Jamie Lynn Spears and husband cause controversy with photo of 10-year-old with shotgun

Jamie Lynn Spears and her husband have been criticised for letting their ten-year-old daughter hold a shotgun.

The couple came under fire after Jamie Lynn's husband Jamie Watson shared a photo of his stepdaughter Maddie carrying the gun and wearing noise-cancelling earmuffs to Instagram. "Getting her ready for dove season," the photo's caption reads. The image annoyed a number of his followers, who took issue with giving the ten-year-old a shotgun.

“Put down the gun, pick up a pair of binoculars & take a hike together,” one follower wrote. “For me, teaching kids to kill when there is absolutely no need seems very, very wrong.” "A girl should NEVER carry a shotgun or learn to KILL animals," commented another. "Maddie is an amazing girl, do not teach her to learn these horrible things."

Others praised Jamie for encouraging the girl to be independent and get outdoors.

"You are a wonderful father to Maddie. Teaching her right. So many kids are hung up on video games and their IPads they never see the outdoors. So kudos to you!" "Seeing celebrities allow their children to live normal lives that kids should live and also honor the love of outdoors regardless of disapproval from some people is amazing and gives me hope in future kids!"

Regular followers of Jamie's will have seen that he and Maddie often hunt together. Maddie is Jamie Lynn's daughter from a previous relationship. She and Jamie Watson met in 2010 and married in 2014. The couple welcomed their first child together, a daughter they named Ivey, in April of this year.