Kent State Grad Unapologetic Over Campus Rifle Photos
Visitors may cary a gun on campus but students, faculty and staff may not
•
A Kent State University graduate is not apologizing for posting graduation photos of herself carrying a rifle on campus.
Kaitlin Bennett tweeted that she could "arm herself" now that she was a graduate. Along with the AR-10 rifle, the photo shows a mortar board with the words: "Come and take it." The school prohibits students, faculty and staff from carrying "deadly weapons."
Now that I graduated from @KentState, I can finally arm myself on campus. I should have been able to do so as a student- especially since 4 unarmed students were shot and killed by the government on this campus. #CampusCarryNowpic.twitter.com/a91fQH44cq
Bennett said she should have been able to carry the weapon as a student "especially since 4 unarmed students were shot and killed by the government." That was a reference to Ohio National Guardsmen killing four students and wounding nine others at the school during a Vietnam War protest in 1970.
The university confirmed to NBC affiliate WKYC that Bennett didn't violate any rules — visitors may carry a gun on campus.
The tweets, which have been shared thousands of times, come amid a nationwide debate over guns on campus. A former student's massacre with a semi-automatic rifle at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in south Florida prompted walkouts and marches in support of gun control across the country. That movement has been championed by many students at the school, though junior Kyle Kashuv has become a prominent advocate of gun rights since the shooting.
Courtesy @mukethemusical via Twitter
Students from Santa Fe High School join students nationwide protesting gun violence in schools on the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings in this April 20, 2018, photo, in Santa Fe, Texas. Santa Fe High became the latest site of a mass shooting at a U.S. school on May 18, 2018, just three months after a gunman shot and killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Terry Spencer/AP
David Hogg, left, a student activist from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, speaks to a student as they walk out of their school, Friday, April 20, 2018, in Parkland, Florida. Another wave of student walkouts is disrupting classes Friday at hundreds of schools across the U.S. as young activists press for tougher gun laws.
Bebeto Matthews/AP
High school students call for anti-gun laws as they protest and rally in Washington Square Park, Friday Apr. 20, 2018 in New York. Protests were held across the country Friday, on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting.
Barbara Rodriguez/AP
Students gather at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, Apr. 20, 2018, as they take part in a national school walkout event to protest gun violence. Protests were held across the country Friday, on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting.
Charles Krupa/AP
Two rings of chairs encircle the words "NEVER AGAIN" in a silent protest on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting outside Trinity High School in Manchester, New Hampshire, Friday, April 20, 2018. The inner ring chairs have names of the Columbine victims, the outer ring chairs have names of the Parkland High School shooting victims.
Courtesy Amy Griffin
Students protest in a "lie-in" as the names and ages of the Columbine High School shooting victims are read on April 20, 2018, for National School Walkout Day in Albany, New York. The 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting that killed 13 people sparked a second nationwide school walkout for stronger gun laws.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
A man shows his support for several hundred high school students from the Washington area as they rallying in front of the White House to protest against the National Rifle Association and to call for stricter gun laws April 20, 2018, in Washington, D.C.
Several hundred high school students from the D.C. area observe 19 minutes of silence while rallying in front of the White House before marching to the U.S. Capitol to protest against the National Rifle Association and to call for stricter gun laws April 20, 2018, in Washington, D.C. Students marched to mark the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting and to demand that Congress pass "common sense gun violence prevention legislation."
Bebeto Matthews/AP
High school students call for anti-gun laws as they protest and rally in Washington Square Park, Friday Apr. 20, 2018, in New York. Protests were planned across the country Friday, on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting.
Students march to the Capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue to call on Congress to act on gun violence prevention during a national walkout on April 20, 2018, which marks the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Students from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia join the National School Walkout April 20, 2018 in while marching to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Students from around the nation joined in the walkout against gun violence on the 19th anniversary of the shooting at Columbine High School where 13 people were killed.
Cyril Julien/AFP/Getty Images
Students hold up signs to protest gun violence during a walk-out in Lafayette Square across the White House in Washington, DC on April 20, 2018. Students across the US were urged to walk out of classes to mark the 19th anniversary of the 1999 school shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado which left 13 people dead. The walkout has been organized by students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, where 14 students and three adult staff members were killed by a troubled former classmate on Feb. 14, 2018.
Bennett told WKYC that gun control advocates in schools usually go viral, "but you don't see a lot going viral about students who are pro-second amendment and pro-gun rights"
