Jessa Duggar, the 21-year-old whose family stars on TLC's "19 Kids & Counting," sparked controversy this week after her boyfriend posted a photo of her online posing with a pink-trimmed semi-automatic rifle.
Duggar's boyfriend, Ben Seewald, posted the picture on Facebook this week with the caption, "My AWESOME girlfriend. #DontmesswithJessa."
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
But the image soon stirred a gun rights debate amongst Facebook users.
"Isn't that the kind of guns they give soldiers who are at war? No wars going on in North America," one user wrote. "People who think it's okay to keep weapons like this in their homes scare me."
"Brain washed fools. I'm glad she knows how to defend herself," someone else posted. "Btw, if you wait for the police to defend you, you will die waiting. I on the other hand will lock and load."
"Wow, would Jesus carry that weapon?" another posited, in reference to the Duggar family's strong faith.
This isn't the first time a photo of a Duggar holding a gun has made headlines. In 2011, John-David Duggar — the third oldest child — was pictured posing with firearms.
At the time, patriarch Jim Bob Duggar spoke out in support of his son and explained his stance on gun control.
"We believe it is important for children to learn safety about guns and knives . . . To learn how to use them properly and to learn not to use them to hurt others but to
use them as a tool," he told Radar Online. "We've all used knives to cut a steak or open a box. It’s really not the gun or the knife, it’s the person that has it in their hands."
The Duggar family's lives have been chronicled on the TLC reality show "19 Kids & Counting" since 2008. Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have 19 children, ranging in age from 26 to 4, and all the kids' names start with the letter "J."
The oldest Duggar sibling, 26-year-old Josh, is married with three kids of his own.
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.