Former NFL player apologises for picture of him holding a gun while posing with daughter and prom date

He said it was 'obviously intended to be a joke'

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Prom season is here, and for millions of Americans that means corsages, sequins and the chance to take those obligatory pictures everybody loves to hate.

But, a “joke” photo shared by one father has sparked outrage online.

Former NFL kicker, Jay Feely, from Arizona, posted a picture to Twitter on Saturday showing his left arm around his daughter while in his other hand he brandished a gun next to her boyfriend.

“Wishing my beautiful daughter and her date a great time at prom #BadBoys,” he captioned the image.

The picture quickly faced considerable backlash with many calling it “out of touch” and “insensitive” during a time when gun laws and safety are sweeping the national discussion.

“Oh yay. American dads have kicked off the season of 'let’s pretend I’m going to shoot my daughter’s date for impugning her chastity' pics," tweeted Shannon Watts, founder of the gun control group Moms Demand Action.

“I mean, we get the reference, but this was terribly out of touch with gun safety,” someone else wrote.

Another person added, “The Stoneman Douglas shooting was 2 months ago. But sure, let's make jokes about murdering high schoolers.”

In light of the backlash, the father-of-four responded the next day with another tweet.

“The prom picture I posted was obviously intended to be a joke,” he wrote.

“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.”