Kaitlin Bennett rose to stardom because of a white dress, a graduation cap and an AR-15.
Bennett is best known as the “Kent State gun girl” when she released her graduation photos which depicted Bennett carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle on Kent State University campus and holding a graduation cap with the words “Come and take it” written on it.
Bennett is the founder of Kent State’s “Liberty Hangout” which is a club with intended conservative values. The club’s Facebook page is known for posting critical and inflammatory memes and photographs.
Bennett tweeted her photos with the caption, “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. #CampusCarryNow”
Ohio is an open carry state, but universities decide on their own campus carry regulations.
Since May, most of Bennett’s tweets have been controversial and various gun rallies she attends get a lot of attention. Her latest catchphrase has been, “You know I carry, right?” Which was in retaliation to being “threatened” at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania by a liberal protester.
Bennett has also made a name for herself by selling merchandise with her photo and catchphrases on them, all while using the hashtag #2A obsessively.
Kaitlin Bennett isn’t an activist, she’s just a girl who graduated college and is now complaining about anything to stay relevant. This girl is only relevant because half of the people are her supporters – who think she walks on water – and the other half of people despise her.
Activists are people who do everything in their power to try and change the situations they are arguing for. A proper gun activist would be involved with talking to their representatives about pro-gun legislature or empowering people to learn about gun rights and gun safety. Not someone whose only goal in life is to get a rise out of people.
Supporting the second amendment can be done in a non-threatening way, but that isn’t what Bennett is doing. Instead, she is creating videos and merchandise to sell only to support herself. She isn’t actively donating to causes that support the second amendment, she isn’t lobbying in support of gun rights. All she does is go and harass people and get harassed by other people while tweeting about how inept liberals are.
Fighting and supporting a cause is commendable. But sitting and benefitting from going viral on Twitter when you could use your time better is annoying.
Complaining isn’t cool, Kaitlin. Get a better hobby.
Opinions expressed in The Nevada Sagebrush are solely those of the author and do not necessarily express the views of The Sagebrush or of its staff. Jacey Gonzalez studies journalism and can be reached at jaceygonzalez@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.
