On Tuesday, around noon, the infamous “Gun Girl” Kaitlin Bennett visited the University of Central Florida’s campus to interview students outside of the Student Union. Originally viral for posing on Kent State University’s campus with an AR-10, she has since built a career interviewing students as one of America’s most controversial conservative social media personalities.
Surrounded by a small crowd, she was interviewing students walking by her when I arrived at the Student Union. What struck me about these interactions was how uncomfortable her interviewees seemed. One student asked her for a photo, and she agreed under the condition that he do an interview first. After pushing him on the topic of voter identification, she refused to take the photo. While this is well within her rights, I can’t help but have a bad taste in my mouth after witnessing this exchange and seemingly exploitative action by the thirty-year-old.
Once my turn to speak with her came, she stated she would only give me thirty seconds to ask questions. I am unsure why this limit was placed on the interview, as there didn’t seem to be a line, and all of my questions would only have taken another minute, but here’s what I was able to gather:
Q: You went viral for your photo on Kent State University’s campus, posing with an AR-10. How do you feel about that, and what were you hoping to accomplish?
A: “Well, that’s an interesting question, going back a long time. I accomplished everything I had set out to accomplish, pointing out the hypocrisy that as a graduate I could go back on campus as a non-student and have an AR-10, but the day before, as a student, before graduation, their policies prevented me from having my legally concealed carry firearm on me.”
Q: What did you come here today to accomplish on UCF’s campus?
A: “Dialogue.”
Q: What made you choose UCF?
A: “It’s a public university.”
Q: Do you stand for no regulation on guns?
A: “I don’t stand for that.”
Q: Would you like to elaborate? What do you stand for?
A: “I gave you thirty seconds. What’s the timeline?”
Naturally, I had gone to interview Kaitlin Bennett, the self-proclaimed “gun rights activist,” in hopes of hearing about her takes on gun regulation and their presence on campuses. Since she declined to elaborate or further question on the subject and shed no light on why, almost ten years later, she is still touring around college campuses, I took to the crowds to get their opinions on her.
I spoke to a few students, all of whom declined to publicize their names but agreed to be recorded for the article. One student said, “It keeps creating this very hostile environment on campus,” and another echoed this theme, saying, “I’m really scared, and it’s kind of making me feel hopeless.”
I was able to gather statements from a few students who had been interviewed by her as well, with one stating, “I just saw in real time how she will come at you and clip it up to make you sound stupid.” The overarching theme is that it doesn’t seem like Bennett comes to these campuses for a debate or in pursuit of education, but rather for conflict and to belittle those who disagree with her. Unfortunately, that has become what she is known for and is likely the reason many students don’t want to be on camera or have their names associated with her.