Rape Prevention 101: Blow Your Whistle In A Safe Zone Next To The Call Box

So, for young women on college campuses in Colorado, they should know that State Rep. Joe Salazar doesn’t have their backs. In fact, he’s for leaving them at the mercy of their attackers. In a bizarre statement, Rep. Salazar said this demonstrate why guns on campuses should be banned:

“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.”

Yes, rapists are law-abiding citizens, (NOT!) and will definitely respect the “safe zones.” Do these people live in another universe? Furthermore, let”s have Hot Air’s Mary Katherine Ham dissect Salazar’s misogynistic statement.

Downplaying the threat of rape? Check. Questioning the ability of grown, sentient women to perceive that threat? Check. A man in a position of power presuming to know what’s best for women he knows nothing about? Check. Limiting women’s choices by law in potentially life-threatening situations? Check. Six months ago, this was known as the frightful patriarchy. Now, it’s just another member of the Party of Women doing his part for the good work of gun control.

So, what can women do on college campuses to defend themselves from would-be attackers? Charles C. W. Cooke at National Review wrote yesterday that:

…the University of Colorado Springs has some advice for its students as to how they might protect themselves:

Be realistic about your ability to protect yourself.

Your instinct may be to scream, go ahead! It may startle your attacker and give you an opportunity to run away.

Kick off your shoes if you have time and can’t run in them.

Don’t take time to look back; just get away.

If your life is in danger, passive resistance may be your best defense.

Tell your attacker that you have a disease or are menstruating.

Vomiting or urinating may also convince the attacker to leave you alone.

Yelling, hitting or biting may give you a chance to escape, do it!

Understand that some actions on your part might lead to more harm.

Remember, every emergency situation is different. Only you can decide which action is most appropriate.

Stupidity begets stupidity, it seems. Alternatively, if “passive resistance” or being “realistic” don’t greatly appeal to you, how about you decide that the action that is “most appropriate” is that you shoot your attacker in the face?

Well, that is a list that just oozes with confidence, huh? I mean telling your would-be rapist you’re menstruating is just as terrifying as a handgun for protection, except that it isn’t.

Dana Loesch added in her post on RedState on February 18 that:

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.

Some statistics, My emphasis:

In the vast majority of those self-defense cases, the citizen will only brandish the gun or fire a warning shot.
In less than 8% of those self-defense cases will the citizen will even wound his attacker.
Over 1.9 million of those self-defense cases involve handguns.
As many as 500,000 of those self-defense cases occur away from home.
Almost 10% of those self-defense cases are women defending themselves against sexual assault or abuse.

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.

Loesch also posted Salazar’s contact information. After all, he’s a public servant, and deserves comments relating to his inane antics when it comes to defending a woman’s right to choose if she wants to use a firearm for self-defense.

Here is Rep. Salazar’s legislative contact info, with which you can give him your feedback with more courtesy than he’s demonstrated for women above.