Kent State student organizes open carry event

The Akron Beacon Journal is reporting that a Kent State University senior Kaitlin Bennett is tired of having her fellow college students being presented with only one side of the gun control debate, and she’s determined to help change that.

That's why Bennett, president of Liberty Hangout, has invited gun rights advocate and firearms instructor Jeffry Smith from Cincinnati to host the Kent State University Open Carry/Firearms Liberty Outreach at 11 a.m. Friday.

From the article:

“The goal really is to spur dialogue,” said Bennett, 22, a biology major from Zanesville. “If students have questions about firearms, we can answer them and have a conversation about gun control and how important the Second Amendment is.”

The event, being held outside the Kent Student Center, is open to the general public and will feature people carrying their weapons. It is legal to openly carry a gun in Ohio.

Organizers have asked participants to keep their long arms in a sling and their handguns holstered.

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Many students support gun rights but are too afraid to speak up, she said.

“There’s a lot of talk of gun control in general on campus and I don’t think there is the other side being presented at all,” said Bennett, who has taken a class to receive her concealed carry permit. “There’s a one-sided campaign against gun rights and it’s important that this campus gets introduced to the other side of that.”

Bennett told the newspaper expects about 40 to 50 people to attend.

Again, from the article:

Kent State has a policy barring students, staff and faculty from carrying guns on campus, but others are welcome.

“Kent State is one of the few schools in Ohio that decided that students wouldn’t be permitted to open carry on campus while guests can,” Bennett said. “That’s a little problematic, especially if guests can have weapons, we should be able to as well.”

The gun rights demonstration isn’t the first for Smith on the Kent State campus. He held a similar event in September 2016.

“It was very professional and they worked well with our police department,” Kent State spokesman Eric Mansfield said. “And that’s what we expect again. We expect a peaceful event.”

Smith has held similar events at other Ohio college campuses, including an open carry march at the University of Akron in April 2015.

For more details about the Kent State event, click here.

Chad D. Baus is the Buckeye Firearms Association Secretary and an NRA-certified firearms instructor. He is co-founder of BFA-PAC, and served as its Vice Chairman for 15 years. He is the editor of BuckeyeFirearms.org, which received the Outdoor Writers of Ohio 2013 Supporting Member Award for Best Website.