During a media picnic at his official residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., Vice President Joe Biden had this to say to gathered journalists:

"Anybody who writes a bad story about me is dead," he announced, bearing that familiar grin.

And bearing a fairly large squirt gun — resembling something a bit more imposing than ye olde fashioned water pistol.

"I just want you to know that, get this straight, we’re not gonna kid around about this."

Then a number of similarly "armed" children dutifully drenched the press corps, the Daily Mail noted, citing tweets from a variety of reporters.

‘The Vice President of the US just shot me with a super soaker,’ wrote the Associated Press’ White House reporter Josh Lederman.