On Wednesday morning Michigan State University’s Rock on Farm Lane had been painted with the message, “Allow us to defend ourselves and carry on campus.”
The Rock is place of expression for the MSU community.
State News reported that sociology doctoral student Kitty Groeller and chemistry junior Rylee Warner saw the plea for policy changes to allow campus carry for self-defense and “decided to cover it up.”
The paper quoted Warner saying, “I woke up this morning and heard about the Rock being painted over. And I understand that students are grieving. And we all grieve in different ways, but you can’t force someone else to grieve in your way. Tradition is to not paint over it … But tradition doesn’t matter right now, what matters is our students grieving and taking their time.”
State News reporter Devin Anderson-Torrez posted video of Groller and Warner covering up the plea for the ability to carry on campus for self-defense:
The Washington Post noted that while their have been many calls for gun control following the Monday night MSU attack there have been voices pointing to other solutions: “In the hours and days after the shooting, dozens of users argued that armed students or faculty would have stopped the shooter. After the Rock, an MSU landmark constantly repainted with messages, was colored with a pro-gun message — “Allow us to defend ourselves & carry on campus” — there was a flurry of posts.”
The Post pointed out that a student one the social media outlet Yik Yak, writing in support of the pro-self-defense message on the Rock, wrote, “Gun free zones are the most unsafe places in this country, that’s what the rock’s current message is getting at. Let us carry to protect ourselves and you.”
Another student on Yik Yak wrote, “Police are minutes away when seconds count.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.