When Chinese sharp-shooter Tao Luna set her gun sights on the Doha bullseyes and squeezed the trigger to fire home three golds and one silver medal at the Asian Games, little did she realise that back in the motherland the fortunes of her chosen sport were coming under a hail of friendly fire.
Despite being one of the safest, gun-free capitals in the world, where the loudest bang is a bicycle tyre puncture, Beijing this week tightened its gun control laws - including 'ammunition, explosives and radioactive materials' - as it turned further the security screws for the 2008 Olympics.
Aside from the eerie thought of Russia's underworld or other shadowy figures spiking the Beijing kao ya - Beijing roast duck - dishes of athletes or tourists with polonium-210, the clampdown on guns has shooting clubs across the capital swinging their sights on the government.
'Beijing will no longer approve commercial shooting ranges and hunting ranges, and sports authorities are required to reduce the number of shooting ranges for training purposes and cut down on the number of guns,' said police chief Ma Zhenchuan.
The draconian measures were a further bid to 'secure a safe Olympics in 2008', he said.
Even museums and exhibition halls were targets. 'If they fail to safely display weapons they must remove them,' said Ma, the director of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.