By Susan Duclos
A quick scorecard on the controversial gun bills being proposed and advanced in the state's Senate, provided by Denver Post:
Senate Bill 197 - Domestic Violence: Advances in Senate
Senate Bill 195 - Online Training: Advances in Senate
House Bill 1229 - Universal Background Checks: Advances in Senate
House Bill 1228 - Background Checks fees: Advances in Senate
House Bill 1224 - Limits on Magazine Size: Advances in Senate
Senate Bill 196 - Liability for Assault-style Weapons: Senate leader kills his own bill
House Bill 1226 - Ban of Concealed Carry Permits College Campuses: Killed by sponsor
The ban on concealed carry on college campuses became highlighted early on when Colorado Democrat Representative Joe Salazar, argued against college women's' Second Amendment constitutional right to bear arms in order to protect themselves from rape, with the following statement:
“It’s why we have call boxes, it’s why we have safe zones, it’s why we have the whistles. Because you just don’t know who you’re gonna be shooting at. And you don’t know if you feel like you’re gonna be raped, or if you feel like someone’s been following you around or if you feel like you’re in trouble when you may actually not be, that you pop out that gun and you pop … pop around at somebody.”He later apologized for causing offense after a public outcry emerged from his statements.
(Video at RedState and the WuA piece on that is here)
Then rape survivors came forward bravely telling their stories and more recently, one faced off with Colorado Senator Evie Hudak going after rape survivor Amanda Collins during a legislative hearing concerning Colorado's proposed ban on concealed firearms on college campuses, telling Ms. Collins that "statistics are not on your side," after Collins explained her ordeal and stated that had she had her gun she could have protected herself.
Collin's responded by telling Hudak "Respectfully Senator, you weren't there."
(Video of that exchange and a subsequent interview with Collins can be found here)
Another rape survivor, Kimberly Weeks, wrote an op-ed, published at Revealing Politics, describing her harrowing ordeal of being awoken by a rapist and raped for hours in her own residence, and now feels she is being re-victimized by the very lawmakers attempting take away her and others' right to defend themselves.
.......earlier this week I sat directly in front of the Colorado Senate Committee telling them and a gallery of strangers, as well as media, the story of my vicious rape.
I plead with them not to strip me of my rights to carry the weapon I am licensed to carry on my college campus. The three Democratic Senators chose to ignore my plea. The very people that treated me like a priority when they needed my vote, voted against me when I needed theirs.
I ask – no, I beg – each Colorado Senator to stop ignoring the voices of citizens like me. Don’t re-victimize me with your legislation.
Please, Colorado, don’t disarm me with your vote.
While Colorado Democrats, who control the state's Senate and House, as well as having a Democratic Governor, are stripping Colorado citizens of their Second Amendment rights as aggressively as possible, having the ban on concealed carry on campuses pulled for lack of support, is a big win for college women's' right to defend themselves against brutal sexual assault on campus.
Quick facs, via the national statistics of sexual violence on college campuses.
• One in 4 college-aged women report experiences that meet the legal definitions of rape or attempted rape.
• One in 5 college women are raped during their college years.
• 81% of women who were stalked by a current or former partner were also physically assaulted by that same partner (US Department of Justice, 1998)
• One in 12 college men admitted to committing acts that met the legal definition of rape.
• More than one in 5 men report "becoming so sexually aroused that they could not stop themselves from having sex," even though the woman did not consent.
• 35% of men report some likelihood that they would rape if they could be assured they wouldn't be caught or punished.
• Nearly 60% of rapes occur in the survivor's residence hall
Chart, via Students for Concealed Carry. (Click chart to enlarge to full)