America’s top Olympic shooter, Kim Rhode, took a strong stand against gun control laws, offering full support for carrying concealed weapons and attacking gun legislation in her home state of California.

“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. “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.”

Rhode is referring to a new set of gun control measures, one of which requires a background check for ammunition purchases, in the same way that background checks are required for guns in the state – but there doesn’t appear to be any limit on the amount of ammunition that can be purchased at once. Nor does there appear to be any requirement for a background check when ammunition is brought to a competition or match, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

(snip)

She expected her press conferences to be more about gun control than her performance and spends time studying proposed anti-gun laws before big shooting events.

She added that the stigma that has been attached to shooting has affected her ability to get endorsements, saying that at least one large company refused to sponsor her.

She also wondered why comparable Olympic stars are not put under the same scrutiny as shooters. For instance, she said, why are swimmers not interrogated in interviews after a publicized drowning accident?