At the CNN town hall on guns Thursday, a rape survivor asked Obama why he and his administration did not understand that gun restrictions were making she and her family less safe.
"As a survivor of rape and now a mother to two small children, you know, it seems like being able to purchase a firearm of my choosing and being able to carry that wherever me and my family are, it seems like my basic responsibility as a parent at this point," she said. "I have been unspeakably victimized once already, and I refuse to let that happen again to myself or my kids. So why can't they see these restrictions that you’re putting to make it harder for me to own a gun or harder for me to take that where I need to be is actually just making my kids and I less safe?"
Obama said that his recommendations would not make it harder for her to purchase a firearm.
"I just want to repeat that there's nothing that we've proposed that would make it harder for you to purchase a firearm," he said. "You may be referring to issues like concealed carry but those tend to be state-by state-decisions, and we're not making any proposals with respect to what states are doing. They can make their own decisions there."
He then said that it is debatable whether owning a gun protects someone from sexual violence.
"There are always questions as to whether or not having a firearm in the home protects you from that kind of violence, and I'm not sure we can resolve that. People argue it both sides. What is true is, is that you have to be pretty well trained in order to fire a weapon against somebody who is assaulting you and catches you by surprise," he said.