Kim Rhode has made a career out of shooting, and the U.S. Olympic gold-medal winner three times over isn’t a fan of gun control laws in America.
Hailing from the state of California, which recently passed a slew of gun laws, Rhode is taking a stand against what she considers unreasonable hoops to jump through for a person in her profession.
“I’m definitely becoming more vocal because I see the need,” said Rhode, a skeet shooter going for a medal in her sixth straight Olympics, via The Guardian. “We just had six laws that were passed in California that will directly affect me. For example, one of them being an ammunition law. I shoot 500 to 1,000 rounds a day, having to do a background check every time I purchase ammo or when I bring ammo out for a competition or a match – those are very, very challenging for me.”
She also mentioned that she has lost out on endorsement money as more and more companies do not want to associate with guns.
Personal frustrations aside, Rhode also doesn’t seem to see how gun control will make any positive impact for average citizens who end up in potentially tragic situations. She referenced some of the big shootings that have occurred in recent memory to prove her point.
“When you look at these events that have been occurring, they’ve been occurring in some of the strictest gun law countries in the world,” she said. “You have Paris, you have San Bernardino, which was actually in a gun-free zone, so, yeah, it’s actually something that you take into consideration.
“For me personally, I realize the first responsibility of a police officer is to respond to an incident and for me personally, in that five minutes or 10 minutes or 20 minutes in some cases that it takes for them to get there, how do you want to stand there? I would rather have my second amendment right.”
Many Americans share Rhode’s point of view, while many do not.
It’s a decisive topic these days, to be sure.
Rhode, who has competed in the Skeet and Double Trap events at the Summer Games, is looking to add to her collection of Olympic medals. She earned gold in the Double Trap during the 1996 Atlanta Games and the 2004 Athens Games and a gold in the Skeet four years ago in London.