Nevada Assemblywoman Michelle Fiore (R) recently said that allowing college students to carry guns would protect women from getting raped.
“If these young, hot little girls on campus have a firearm,” Fiore told the New York Times, “I wonder how many men will want to assault them. The sexual assaults that are occurring would go down once these sexual predators get a bullet in their head.”
Fiore introduced a bill last week that would allow people with concealed carry permits to bring their guns on to college campuses in Nevada.
Currently, 10 states – including Florida and Texas, of course – have introduced similar bills which are naturally supported by gun rights advocates who think it’s perfectly acceptable to take guns any and everywhere.
Several groups, however, have spoken out against these laws and recognize that they actually won’t prevent most rapes.
“The gun lobby has seized on this tactic, this subject of sexual assault,” said Andy Pelosi, executive director of the Campaign to Keep Guns off Campus. “If resonates with lawmakers.”
Oklahoma State professor and president of One in Four, a group that educates college students about sexual assault, John Foubert also told The Times that these laws are deeply flawed.
“It reflects a misunderstanding of sexual assaults in general. If you have a rape situation, usually it starts with some sort of consensual behavior, and by the time it switches to non consensual, it would be nearly impossible to run for a gun. Maybe if it’s someone who raped you before and is coming back, it theoretically could help them feel more secure.”
It’s no surprise that these laws are being introduced primarily by Republican politicians. They will bow down to gun lobbyists in any and all cases, regardless of the illogical reasoning behind the lobbyists’ demands.
This time, it shows that not only do they not understand how dangerous it is to allow concealed firearms on campuses, it shows that they have no grasp on the reality of sexual assaults. Those attacked have often been incapacitated in some form and could not get to the firearm even if they had one. Victims often know their attackers and would not be likely to put a “bullet in their heads.”
And if the GOP is suddenly okay with killing rapists, then why aren’t the working to reform the legal process involved with convicting them and making rape a capital offense?
