“As a woman, I refuse to be a victim.”

A Kent State University graduate is making waves with striking pictures taken while leaving campus. But it’s her message to her fellow young people that’s worth noting.

Kaitlin Marie (or Kaitlin Bennett; she’s identified both ways online) was snapped striding out from the university she had called home for so long with a semi-automatic rifle slung across her back.

“Now that I graduated from Kent State, I can finally arm myself on campus,” she wrote.

“I should have been able to do so as a student — especially since four unarmed students were shot and killed by the government on this campus.”

Her message referenced the infamous 1970 Kent State massacre, which still haunts the campus memory to this day.

Members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed students, killing four and wounding nine others.

“I have no apologies for my graduation photos. As a woman, I refuse to be a victim, and the Second Amendment ensures that I don’t have to be,” she added.

LifeZette reached out to her for comment on all of this. “It’s called the Bill of Rights, not the bill of needs, and I shouldn’t need the government’s permission to protect myself,” she said on Wednesday. “Guests may open-carry at Kent State, since the Second Amendment applies on public property, but school policy prohibits students and staff from protecting themselves as they see fit.”

“School policy prohibits students and staff from protecting themselves as they see fit,” she told LifeZette.

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

She added, “I think this is an insult to anyone who would want to send their kids there, that the university values the lives of their guests more than [that of] their students and staff members.”

Her messages was sure to cause a commotion. On college campuses, standing up for one’s individual rights is considered an act of provocation; it defies the so-called safe spaces designed to insulate students from conservative arguments.

Her salty message to the university, sure enough, drew feisty reactions on social media:

  • “[S]is, they would’ve been killed, guns or no guns. Not only is the ‘good guy with a gun’ scenario absurd, but against the government you stand no chance at all.”
  • “Do people realize most of the students who were killed wasn’t [sic] even protesting … so your argument is invalid and had there been guns … I’m sure it would have turned into 100 dead and not four.”
  • “[Y]ou would have been on the side of the troops murdering the unarmed students, Kaitlin.”

Gun control advocates piled on the vitriol, but the majority of responses were irrational or otherwise missed the point.

Someone who knows well the kind of heat a woman can draw while standing up for her right to bear arms is Dana Loesch.

Related: Women Love Shooting Responsibly, and They’re Here to Stay

The National Rifle Association spokesperson gets heavy flak from those who hate that her message to women to arm themselves intrudes on their identity politics.

Kaitlin Marie made a symbolic act at Kent State in defense of individual rights and female empowerment. She is boldly striding out into the world — armed and free.

Kyle Becker is a content writer and producer with LifeZette. Follow him on Twitter

(photo credit, homepage image: Kaitlin Bennett, Instagram)