Dad Sports Handgun In Prom Picture Joke, Sets Off Heated Gun Debate

A prom photo shoot took on another meaning when former NFL placekicker Jay Feely posted a controversial picture of himself standing between his daughter and her date on prom night with a gun on his hand.

No, he wasn't imposing a curfew by packing a pistol but insisted it was a joke after social media commenters lashed out and deemed the photo as inappropriate.

The 41-year-old father tweeted, "Wishing my beautiful daughter and her date a great time at prom #BadBoys," with the hashtag representing an homage to a scene from the movie Bad Boys 2.

But others didn't laugh along to what they thought was tasteless in the current climate with high school students rallying for stricter gun control in the wake of multiple mass shootings.

Feely, who spent his NFL career on eight teams, including, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, and Chicago Bears said that the photo was just a joke that his daughter was in on.

The prom picture I posted was obviously intended to be a joke. My Daughter has dated her boyfriend for over a year and they knew I was joking. I take gun safety seriously (the gun was not loaded and had no clip in) and I did not intend to be insensitive to that important issue.

But his excuse didn't prove he exhibited responsibility.

One user criticized that exerting parental authority doesn't require brandishing a firearm.

And even though he understood it was a joke, he believes that these kinds of images can propagate domestic violence.

The controversy was lost on this user.

But this summed up what is more appropriate, point blank: to keep some some brands of humor private.

H/T - USAtoday, Twitter, Wikipedia