Dem to rape victim: A gun likely wouldn't have helped you

A Democratic state senator in Colorado has come under fire for telling a rape victim that the assault would likely had been worse had she been armed with a gun.

During a hearing Monday for a proposed statewide ban on carrying concealed firearms on college campuses, Amanda Collins, who was sexually assaulted at gunpoint in October 2007 on the campus of the University of Nevada at Reno while walking to her car after a night class, argued her attack may have been avoided if she had a gun.

Sen. Evie Hudak disagreed, telling Ms. Collins that, statistically speaking, a gun probably wouldn’t have helped her.

“You said that you were a martial arts student, I mean person, experienced in taekwondo, and yet because this individual was so large, was able to overcome you, even with your skills,” Miss Hudak said to Ms. Collins during the hearing. “And chances are that if you had had a gun, then he would have been able to get that from you and possibly use it against you.”

She then cited a statistic stating that for every woman who used a gun to kill someone in self-defense, 83 were killed while attempting to use their weapon, a point which Ms. Collins refuted.

“Respectfully, senator, you weren’t there,” Ms. Collins replied. “Had I been carrying concealed, he wouldn’t have known I had my weapon; and I was there. I know without a doubt in my mind at some point I would’ve been able to stop my attack by using my firearm.”

Her suspected attacker, convicted rapist James Biela, was later sentenced to death for killing another woman.

Republican state Sen. Ted Harvey told Ms. Collins that the proposed legislation is not to render people defenseless, but to keep other people from feeling “uncomfortable.”

“What we are trying to do here tonight is not to protect ourselves from violent crime. What we are trying to do here tonight is prevent students and teachers from feeling uncomfortable by you carrying a gun to protect yourself,” he said.