The White House is standing by Vice President Joseph R. Biden's decision to talk bluntly about his affinity for old-school shotguns -- despite a storm of criticism from the left that the pump-action pitch undermined the White House push for gun-control measures.

"The point the vice president was making yesterday is one that he's made before," Mr. Carney said. "And that is, that this administration, this president and this vice president ... firmly supports our Second Amendment rights, upheld by the Constitution, and that includes the right of homeowners, law-abiding Americans citizens, to have a firearm at their home to protect themselves in their home."

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