Updated

Politicians and advocates for gun control in the United States are going to great lengths to show they like firearms.

For example, the White House recently released a photo of President Barack Obama skeet shooting at the Camp David presidential retreat.

The message is obvious: They value America's gun culture. In a country where at least a third of households have firearms, it's hard to impose stricter arms rules without support from gun owners.

That means reassuring Americans that nobody is going to take away the guns they have legally bought.

Gun control proponents are pressing on with such efforts ahead of a crucial Senate vote on legislation backed by the Obama administration in response to the December shooting of 20 children and six educators at a Connecticut school.