A notable campus landmark is the Rock on Farm Lane. It is a center of all sorts of expression ranging from sports rivalries to political debates and may be painted daily.
After Monday night’s tragedy, passersby on Tuesday morning were greeted with the message “How many more?” Flowers were also placed at the site to remember the victims.
This of course is a very sensible question, one that is asked by people in all walks of life with a wide range of views on crime and the Second Amendment. One mass shooting is one too many, and many are at a loss for how to prevent more.
But on Wednesday morning, that question was replaced by a plea from the community to allow for greater self-defense. The repainted rock simply stated, “Allow us to defend ourselves and carry on campus.”
Needless to say, the second message did not get nearly the airtime with major media outlets that the first did.
State News reported that a pair of students, sociology doctoral candidate Kitty Groeller and chemistry junior Rylee Warner, decided that the pro-Second Amendment messages needed to immediately come down.
The two reportedly had never met each other but reached the same conclusion.
The outlet quoted Warner as explaining, “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 are grieving and taking their time.”
State News posted a video of the two students covering the plea for greater self-defense rights with black paint.
Even mainstream media giants who consistently line up in opposition to Second Amendment rights are forced to acknowledge there are widely disparate opinions on solutions for random violence.
The Washington Post reported that, besides the usual calls for more draconian gun control measures, voices are increasingly demanding different and more effective solutions. The paper noted that many assert that “armed students or faculty would have stopped the shooter.”
On the social media platform Yik Yak, the Post reported that one student made a point that echoed what many are now saying. “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 shared the observation that “police are minutes away when seconds count.”
These sentiments are shared by many who are given to logical and reasoned arguments. It is a shame that the message defending the basic right to self-defense was not allowed to stay posted for the traditional period, but that’s the state of free speech when it comes to gun rights.
As was noted by the MSU student, police cannot be at all places at all times. The vast majority of violent crimes occur away from police presence, and by their very nature, criminals will target those they feel least likely to resist.
A gun free zone, for example.
The presence of one or more good guys with guns can change that narrative in a hurry. There is nothing the criminal element thrives on more than a defenseless populace, and nothing it fears more than an armed and ready citizen.
The solution to violent crime is not disarming good people and preventing them from exercising their natural right to self-defense. Instead, ensure that rights guaranteed in the Constitution are not infringed upon and the people are free to protect themselves from those who would do them harm.
