We all know her, and we are all sick of her: Kaitlin Bennett, known on the internet as “gun girl.” She gained public attention after posting her Kent State graduation pictures on Twitter, which featured her carrying her cap while sporting an AR15 slung over her shoulder. While the pictures may have been innocent in intent, it stirred an enormous amount of controversy. Many were upset with her choice to bring a firearm onto a campus, given the increasing amount of school shootings and fatalities from illicit and poor gun-bearing decisions. Bennett claimed to have simply been advocating for the second amendment, amid the gun-owner’s worries over stricter gun laws. Many assumed their right to carry was going to be stripped instead of reading up on the actual proposal. The proposal simply looked to enact stricter background checks and necessary guidelines before being able to purchase a gun. In many states, once one turns 18 they can walk into a Walmart and walk out with a gun of their own without trouble.
Needless to say, people were not happy with Bennett’s inconsiderateness and lack of slef-awareness. Bennett lashed back at Twitter users and has since used the platform to advertise for President Donald Trump, his campaign and her seeming undying support for his atrocities. She has her boyfriend and a cameraman follow her around while she shows up to public places—rallies, college campuses and debates to name a few, and harass those that do not stand by her or Trump. She has been seen harassing people of color, the LGBTQ+ community and Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren supporters. She has been filmed chanting and harassing women exiting or supporting Planned Parenthood. In one recent video, she was seen screaming at women for supporting “murder,” abortion, while clearly being uneducated on the topic. When one woman started screaming back at her that it is her body and shared her own personal abortion story, she was sneered at by the Republican girl. She was filmed on a campus slandering LGBTQ+ students, claiming lesbians must think she is hot. She was filmed fat shaming a woman, and then proceeded to threaten her with her gun after she yelled back at her.
She acts as though she has no idea why people dislike her. She drove through a college campus and filmed as she was booed and had things thrown at her car. She claims to be the victim, when she is the bully receiving backlash for her actions. Bennett has caused so much strife, anger and grief among students and citizens of all kinds—or, any kind that does not stand by a racist, homophobic and sexist president, at least.
Some argue that we should not be posting her, commenting on her videos or paying her any attention and that if she gets ignored, she will be forgotten and silenced. Others believe the latter that her ignorance and harmful intent needs to be addressed and dissented. Bennett has only caused chaos and controversy. She has contributed nothing positive to the community and it is no surprise that the only people who “feel bad” or stand behind her are those who share the same inhumane and ignorant values. Whether or not we acknowledge her and her antics, she will continue to be a proud, white-supremacist conservative. She will feel she won if she gets ignored, and likely become more violent to gain the attention she so craves. Nothing about her is, or will be, good news.
Photo from Flickr
