The White House has released a photograph of president Barack Obama skeet shooting at Camp David last August after some Republicans expressed doubts that the Democratic president had engaged in the activity.
Mr Obama, who is seeking a ban on assault weapons and other measures to reduce gun violence, told the New Republic in its February 11th issue that he shoots skeet "all the time" at the Camp David presidential retreat and respects the nation's hunting tradition.
He was responding to a question about whether he had ever fired a gun.
The photo, sent to reporters via Twitter by White House spokesman Jay Carney and Obama adviser Dan Pfeiffer, shows Mr Obama shooting clay targets on a range at Camp David on August 4th.
Asked earlier last week about a photo of the president skeet shooting, Mr Carney replied that when Mr Obama "goes to Camp David, he goes to spend time with his family and friends and relax, not to produce photographs."
Thereafter, Representative Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, expressed doubt about Mr Obama's skeet shooting.
"You know, if you don't have the photos, if this is not something that's a new hobby, then I think he should invite me out to Camp David and I'll challenge him," Ms Blackburn said on CNN.
Asked for a reaction to Ms Blackburn's challenge, Mr Carney responded, "I have none."
The president continues his pressure on Congress to curb gun violence when he speaks tomorrow at the Minneapolis Police Department's Special Operations Centre.
The president has responded to the December 14th Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting deaths of 20 children and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut, by proposing legislation to mandate background checks for all gun buyers, a ban on high-capacity ammunition clips and reinstatement of a ban on the sale of assault weapons.
Bloomberg