Gun direction: Liam Payne under fire

It seems Liam Payne learns no lessons when it comes to having his photograph taken.

First he invoked fury when he was pictured on the ledge of a skyscraper at 360ft.

Then there was drama over what at first appeared to be a naked photograph.

And now the One Direction star has come under fire for posing with a gun with the stars of a controversial US show.

The 21-year-old from Bushbury, Wolverhampton, is shown holding a rifle with some of the reality stars of Duck Dynasty.

He visited the Robertson clan - whose patriarch Phil was previously slammed for his right-wing views - in Louisiana this week where they shot clay discs.

Liam is pictured grinning away next to his bodyguard Paddy, in the same week that he was forced to strongly deny that leaked 'gay' photos were him.

And critics were quick to slam the former St Peter's Collegiate School pupil.

Sarah Summins wrote on Twitter: "Thanks for glamourising America's gun crisis that literally kills countless numbers of innocent people."

Meanwhile Instagram user Sophia Deluxe added: "It's not funny to hold a gun, because every day thousands of people die by gunfire."

But his friend Andy Samuels, who also went on the day trip, added some context by writing on Twitter: "Today I shot a gun at a clay disc thing and I loved it."

While it has a huge fanbase, Duck Dynasty has proved the subject of much controversy since Phil Robertson labeled homosexuality a sin and also offended African-Americans in a GQ interview.

The remarks saw the star suspended before an intense backlash by fans forced the TV network to reverse its decision and reinstate him.

Earlier this year, The X Factor star raised eyebrows when he decided to tweet that he was a fan of the show.

"Huge love to you/your family huge respect for your business prosperities and the family values you still all behold. big fan," he wrote, in a tweet to Phil's son Willie.

A gay rights campaigner tweeted angrily in response, leading Directioners to quickly jump to Liam's defence.