DemonGeminiX
12-04-2015, 07:15 PM
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – U.S. Olympic shooting great Kim Rhode said Thursday the tragic massacre that left 14 people dead in San Bernardino only furthers her resolve to protect the rights of citizens to carry firearms.
While the attack on a regional center for the disabled by suspects Syed R. Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27, quickly led to calls for enhanced gun control, Rhode, a five-time Olympian and three-time gold medalist, told USA TODAY Sports the horrific events of Wednesday did not alter her feelings regarding Second Amendment rights.
The attacks had a personal note for Rhode, 36, who is from Whittier, Calif., and whose parents own property in Muscoy, a town on the outskirts of San Bernardino.
“My heart goes out to the victims and their families; it is terrible,” Rhode said in a telephone interview. “But my views on gun control are that I support the Second Amendment and the right to be able to shoot and to protect your family. If anything, what has happened makes me have more of a reason to carry.
“The police do an incredible job and risk their lives every day. But they can only respond to these kinds of issues. I want to be able to protect myself in the interim before police get there.”
Rhode knows her views will attract criticism but says she regards it as a duty to show competitive shooting – in every Summer Olympics except two -- in a positive light. She said the sport has taught her “focus, discipline, respect and control,” while admitting that in the aftermath of her gold medal performance in London in 2012 she received death threats from animal rights activists over her support of hunting.
“Ever since the news (Wednesday) I haven’t stopped thinking about how with Christmas coming up there are all those families who won’t have sons or daughters to celebrate with,” Rhode said. “There seems to be no rhyme or reason to why someone would do this. But I don’t blame the gun.”
When Rhode clinched first place in London, the first question she was asked in her news conference was about the Aurora, Colo., shooting massacre that had taken place weeks earlier.
“As shooters we get lumped in with all the negative aspects of shooting,” she said. “But there is so much more to it than that.”
Rhode was the flagbearer of the U.S. team at the Pan Am Games in Toronto this summer and is in a strong position to qualify for what would be her sixth consecutive Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next year.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/us-olympian-defends-guns-after-mass-shooting/ar-AAfZPZJ?li=BBnb7Kz
While the attack on a regional center for the disabled by suspects Syed R. Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 27, quickly led to calls for enhanced gun control, Rhode, a five-time Olympian and three-time gold medalist, told USA TODAY Sports the horrific events of Wednesday did not alter her feelings regarding Second Amendment rights.
The attacks had a personal note for Rhode, 36, who is from Whittier, Calif., and whose parents own property in Muscoy, a town on the outskirts of San Bernardino.
“My heart goes out to the victims and their families; it is terrible,” Rhode said in a telephone interview. “But my views on gun control are that I support the Second Amendment and the right to be able to shoot and to protect your family. If anything, what has happened makes me have more of a reason to carry.
“The police do an incredible job and risk their lives every day. But they can only respond to these kinds of issues. I want to be able to protect myself in the interim before police get there.”
Rhode knows her views will attract criticism but says she regards it as a duty to show competitive shooting – in every Summer Olympics except two -- in a positive light. She said the sport has taught her “focus, discipline, respect and control,” while admitting that in the aftermath of her gold medal performance in London in 2012 she received death threats from animal rights activists over her support of hunting.
“Ever since the news (Wednesday) I haven’t stopped thinking about how with Christmas coming up there are all those families who won’t have sons or daughters to celebrate with,” Rhode said. “There seems to be no rhyme or reason to why someone would do this. But I don’t blame the gun.”
When Rhode clinched first place in London, the first question she was asked in her news conference was about the Aurora, Colo., shooting massacre that had taken place weeks earlier.
“As shooters we get lumped in with all the negative aspects of shooting,” she said. “But there is so much more to it than that.”
Rhode was the flagbearer of the U.S. team at the Pan Am Games in Toronto this summer and is in a strong position to qualify for what would be her sixth consecutive Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next year.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/us-olympian-defends-guns-after-mass-shooting/ar-AAfZPZJ?li=BBnb7Kz