Blackburn challenges Obama to skeet shooting: 'I'll take my own gun'

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) says that if President Barack Obama really goes skeet shooting "all the time" then he should accept her challenge to a competition, and the congresswoman is already predicting she's a better shot than the commander in chief.

In an interview published on Sunday, Obama told the New Republic that "we do skeet shooting all the time" at Camp David.

"And I have a profound respect for the traditions of hunting that trace back in this country for generations. And I think those who dismiss that out of hand make a big mistake," the president said. "And if you grew up and your dad gave you a hunting rifle when you were ten, and you went out and spent the day with him and your uncles, and that became part of your family's traditions, you can see why you'd be pretty protective of that."

But on Monday, Blackburn suggested to CNN's Erin Burnett that the president might not be telling the truth.

"If he is skeet shooter, why have we not heard of this?" the Tennessee Republican wondered. "Why have we not seen photos? Why has he not referenced it at any point in time?"

"I tell you what I do think, I think he should invite me to Camp David and I'll go skeet shooting with him and bet I'll beat him."

Appearing on CNN's Starting Point the next morning, Blackburn denied that she had implied the president was fibbing.

"No, I did not," she told CNN's John Berman. "I just said, you know, if you don't have the photos, if this is not something that's a known hobby then I think he should invite me out to Camp David and I'll challenge him."

"I would think that if the president has said that he's been skeet shooting then he has been out there," Blackburn added. "I would like to know with what regularity he is out there shooting those clay pigeons, and like I said, is he using a 12 or a 20 gauge [shotgun]."

"So if you go, you will provide a camera?" CNN's Brooke Baldwin asked.

"And I'll take my own gun," Blackburn laughed. "A 20 gauge."

CNN contributor Roland Martin, however, said that skeet truthers were just latest group to assert that the president was not what he claimed to be.

"You say you do it all the time, don't you kind of have to prove it?" Burnett opined.

"No!" Martin replied. "Okay, seriously, we went through four years of this man trying to prove he's an American, trying to prove he's a Christian. Okay, I don't need to see a photo of the president reading a Bible to know he's a Christian, I don't need a photo of his birth certificate. So, seriously. And I really don't care."

"So, he doesn't need to show a photo to go, 'Oh, there's a president holding a gun' because I've always thought it was stupid when politicians would run these photos of video or them out wading through the weeds to show everybody, 'Hey, he's a hunter.' It's really not that big of a deal, and it's not going to change anybody's mind as it relates to gun control in this country."

Watch this video from CNN, broadcast Jan. 28, 2013.