At today’s Senate hearing on gun violence, a spokeswoman for the conservative women’s group Independent Women’s Forum claimed that young moms really like AR-15s because they’re “scary.”
Via Crooks & Liars:
At Senate Judiciary Hearing on gun violence, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) asked IWF’s Gayle Trotter, who also writes for The Daily Caller, if it would “disproportionately burden women” to ban assault rifles like the Bushmaster AR-15 used to slaughter 20 children in Newtown, Connecticut.
“Young women are speaking out as to why AR-15 weapons are their weapon of choice,” Trotter explained. “The guns are accurate. They have good handling. They’re light. They’re easy for women to hold.”
She added: “And most importantly, their appearance. An assault weapon in the hands of a young woman defending her babies in her home becomes a defense weapon, and the peace of mind that a woman has as she’s facing three, four, five violent attackers, intruders in her home, with her children screaming in the background, the peace of mind that she has knowing that she has a scary-looking gun gives her more courage when she’s fighting hardened, violent criminals.”
“And if we ban these types of assault weapons, you are putting women at a great disadvantage, more so than men, because they do not have the same type of physical strength and opportunity to defend themselves in a hand-to-hand struggle. They’re not criminals, they’re moms, they’re young women. And they’re not used to violent confrontations.”
I have some questions about this. How, for example, does that young mom managing her babies get hold of that AR-15 when the attackers storm the door and burst into the house if it’s properly locked up in a safe where the kids can’t get it? Does she like high capacity clips, too? How does she manage to shoot her attackers while keeping the kids out of the line of fire?
Do any of you think this is credible or just sheer wingnuttery?
