Jay Feely SLAMMED For Holding Gun in Daughter"s Prom Photo

Jay Feely is a former football player who is making the rounds on Twitter for a reason wholly unrelated to sports.

It is Prom Season, which means that social media is full of prom photos. In this case, the photo is intensely controversial.

Feely poses between his daughter and her boyfriend. While holding a gun.

The picture is clearly staged. The gun is not loaded. The threat is not real. And everyone involved knows that. But that doesn"t mean that the photo was okay.

For one thing, as his critics explain, the optics of holding a gun to threaten a high school student these days … it just doesn"t go over well.

For another, and this is arguably more important, even though Feely is joking, his joke plays into the age-old tradition of fathers asserting what many view as "ownership" over their daughters and of their daughters" sexuality.

It"s probably true that Feely never meant to ignite that kind of controversy or insult his daughter or in any way threaten his daughter"s boyfriend.

But he put up the photo and it is still up — along with his apology.

1. This is the tweet that started it all

There is much more going on here than the presence of a gun, but the gun definitely brought some extra attention.

2. It’s Prom Season, so it’s also the season for … this

Shannon Watts is the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, and she clearly doesn’t see this as a laughing matter.

3. But the controversy is about so much more than guns

Daughters are not their father’s property. They are, in fact, real people, with their own desires and everything.

4. Some were more moderate

A lot of controversies are stupid, but this one involves a gun, high school students, and some unhealthy cultural norms. Isn’t it okay for people to speak up?

5. That one received a reply

That’s something that hadn’t even crossed a lot of people’s minds. It’s a good point.

6. One person offered a "translation" of Freely’s tweet

This isn’t necessarily true of Freely, of course. But that is part of the culture behind the stereotypical “prom threats.”

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