RAPE SURVIVOR FIRES BACK AT BROWER
As reported here on Thursday, “Republican” State Sen. Greg Brower is single-handedly trying
to kill “Amanda’s Law” - the campus carry bill that was passed by the State
Assembly - by refusing to even give the bill a hearing before his Judiciary
Committee, let alone a recorded vote.
In response, rape survivor Amanda Collins, for whom the bill has been named, sent the following
email to Sen. Brower late Thursday afternoon…
Dear Senator Brower,
First off I am Amanda Collins, the catalyst of AB148 and I am reaching
out to you, a representative I personally voted and lobbied others to vote for
back in November of 2012, in hopes that you would at least allow the bill to be
presented in your committee and brought to a vote.
Four years ago I decided to forgo my anonymity and blindly jump into
the legislative arena to bring some much needed restoration to our
constitution.
I never imagined then the process would be more draining, disheartening
and more emotionally challenging than testifying before a grand-jury against my
rapist, with him sitting only feet away from me. However, it has been. To say that I have been disappointed in what
I have seen from my “front row seat” is an understatement.
In both the 2011 session (when you voted in favor of campus carry
measures) and 2013 session the bills pertaining to campus carry were, as you
know, single-handedly killed when the chairmen (Horne and Frierson) of the
Judiciary committee of the Assembly refused to bring the bill to a vote, hiding
behind the blanket statement of “the bill just doesn’t have the support to get
passed.”
When I learned that you were the chairman of the Judiciary committee in
the Senate, I had high hopes of this year being the year that all my sweat,
time away from my young family and even tears will have been all worth it.
Based on when I met you back in 2011, I thought of you as a man of
integrity and character, who would truly represent his constituents. Then my father, Thom Collins, forwarded me a
message he’d received from you, “We have not yet decided whether to schedule a
second hearing on this bill. (As you
know, it did already receive a full hearing in the Assembly.) I'm not sure if it has enough support in the
Senate to merit another hearing. I will let you know if anything changes.”
I was shocked to be reading the very same patronizing line of BS I had
received two sessions prior from men who I knew lacked integrity and were
taking their orders from leadership. Only this time I was getting it from a man
whom I actually voted to represent me.
Not only did I personally vote for you, I lobbied for other people to
vote for you because I mistakenly took you for a legislator who stands up for
our Second Amendment rights based on your NRA grade and past interactions. This is nothing short of a strong slap in my
face.
Back in 2013 during his state of the Union address President Obama said
that “all victims of gun violence deserve a vote.”
As a surviving victim of gun violence and sexual assault I am pleading
with you, if the bill truly doesn’t have the votes to pass, prove it to me and
let me see the vote. Otherwise give me
the courtesy of being upfront and honest as to why you are effectively killing
this bill, single handedly, and allowing the victimization of men and women on
our University campuses to be perpetuated.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Amanda Collins
How shameful if Amanda’s Law gets killed this session,
unilaterally without a recorded vote, by a Republican who voted for it two
sessions ago.
Sen. Brower should stop trying to hide and protect
soft-on-gun-rights colleagues and not only allow a vote on Amanda’s Law, but
actively, forcefully and enthusiastically advocate for its passage.
ROBERSON THE NOT-SO-MAGNIFICENT
My buddy, Jon Ralston
– Nevada’s #2 liberal blogger-with-a-taxpayer-subsidized-TV-show – has been
heaping praise on RINO Senate Majority Leader Tax Hike Mike Roberson for his supposed political skills and strategic
legislative genius.
Sorry, I just don’t see it.
On major issues that he couldn’t bully his way through with
a simple majority so far this session, Roberson has gotten his arse kicked and
hat handed to him over and over again.
Indeed, he’s now lost the Uber bill not once, but
twice.
His Gross Receipts Tax 2.0 bill got out of the Senate but
has gotten all but a stake through the heart in the Assembly.
And today he lost a vote to make the “temporary” tax hikes
from 2009 permanent thanks to usually tax-happy Democrats who have voted for
those hikes in the past voting against them now.
Yes, there’s still a long way to go in the session and he
still holds a lot of cards. But it’s hard to see how former Senate Majority
Leader Bill Raggio would have lost
so many important votes like the ones Roberson has tanked if he was still
running the show.
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