Professional shooter Chris Cheng has come out about his sexuality in an interview on RecoilWeb, and on his personal web site.

It couldn’t have been an easy decision either time he came out (as a gun nut working at Google in California to his peers, or gay to the world), but as he revealed on his personal site, it is important for the 2nd Amendment community to push beyond stereotypes.

One reason why I chose to come out publicly is that I’m a gay guy in a gun world. Hunters, sport shooting enthusiasts, and collectors are too often stereotyped as part of efforts to politicize guns as we witnessed last week on the anniversary of the horrific Newtown tragedy. Take it from someone who in a single package is not only gay, but Chinese, Japanese, California-born, a college graduate, a tech geek who worked on cool Google projects, a gun enthusiast and a passionate 2nd Amendment advocate. Our community is as diverse as anyone’s.

A special thanks to the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, who are supportive of my decision as they recognize the diverse perspective I bring to the conversation about the safe and responsible use of firearms. And a big shout out to my fellow “Top Shot” Champions Iain Harrison and Dustin Ellermann, who have been great friends throughout this journey. Finally, I can’t thank enough my loving family, friends, and Nate, my boyfriend of four and a half years, for making this decision a no-brainer.

Entering this new chapter of my life, I am currently working with a producer developing a cool new idea for a unique reality TV program featuring the diversity of the gun community.

While Cheng’s use of the gun has always been known as sporting in nature, the sad history of the human species shows us that arms are often the last line of defense for any oppressed community.

It doesn’t matter if that community is made up of partisans fighting invaders, patriots attempting to overthrow a tyrant, freed slaves defending their hard-won freedoms, or other oppressed minorities standing up against hate groups and gangs. When push comes to shove self defense is a human right, and we should all be glad to have a person with Cheng’s character fighting on the side of gun rights and representing the cause of liberty.