Democrat Apologizes, Said Potential Rape Victims Shouldn’t Defend Themselves

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Feb 19, 2013   |   2:57PM   |   Denver, CO

A Colorado state legislator who quickly became the Todd Akin of the left — with a comment that women worried about becoming rape victims shouldn’t defend themselves with guns — has been forced to apologize.

Colorado Democrat Rep. Joe Salazar, during a debate yesterday in the Colorado state legislature about who should enjoy the 2nd Amendment rights to have a gun, essentially discounted the idea of women fearing a rape protecting themselves with a firearm.

“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 a round at somebody,” he said.

Salazar apologized late Monday in a statement.

“I’m sorry if I offended anyone,” Salazar said in the statement. ”That was absolutely not my intention. We were having a public policy debate on whether or not guns makes people safer on campus. I don’t believe they do. That was the point I was trying to make. If anyone thinks I’m not sensitive to the dangers women face, they’re wrong. I am a husband and father of two beautiful girls, and I’ve spent the last decade defending women’s rights as a civil rights attorney. Again, I’m deeply sorry if I offended anyone with my comments.”

But Colorado House Republicans are not satisfied and issued a press release asking Gov. John Hickenlooper and Speaker Mark Ferrandino to “condemn” Salazar’s comment.“Questioning a woman’s judgment over whether or not she is about to be raped is insensitive and insulting to women everywhere,” said Rep. Polly Lawrence, R-Littleton, in the statement emailed to reporters Tuesday.

“No matter what sort of policy position you’re trying to advance, questioning the rational ability of women to perceive threats around them is something Democrat leaders should condemn.”

“I’m sorry, a whistle and a call box are not going to help that woman on campus,” said Lawrence, who also took issue with Salazar’s notion “that women don’t know when we’re going to be raped, that [women] can’t recognize when there’s an inherent danger?”

Rep. Lori Saine, R-Dacono, was upset and added: “My daughter’s going to be going off to college in about 10 years. I can’t imagine her only option’s going to be to outrun her attacker to a call box. I think she’s going to be responsible enough to handle a gun.

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Conservative writer and radio talk show host Dana Loesch quickly seized on the comments and said they reveal the Democrats’ war on women, saying that 10 percent of self-defense cases are women defending themselves against sexual assault or abuse.

This is the real “war on women” I’ve talked about: the progressive insistence that women disarm. Women, according to Rep. Salazar, are hysterical things which shoot indiscriminately at any and everything.

This “feel like you’re going to be raped” nonsense is as poorly-worded as the “shut that whole thing down” drama from last fall. If Democrats don’t swiftly condemn this, I see this used as a tactic to showcase the vast lack of respect Democrats have for a woman’s right to self defense.