As of August 1, 2016, students with concealed carry licenses are now permitted to take loaded handguns into public Texas university classrooms. Throughout the state, openly carrying a gun is now also legal. The minimum requirement to obtain a license for any of these activities is 4 hours of instruction. Dozens of states across the nation are battling similar legislation. This is not what safety looks like.

On the first day of classes, August 24, 2016, we held what was hailed as one of the “largest anti-gun rallies in Texas history.” The event was satirically named “Campus (Dildo) Carry” to mock the new “Campus Carry” law. It was created upon the discovery that it is illegal, according to Texas obscenity laws, to openly brandish a harmless dildo in public. In contrast, loaded guns (concealed or otherwise) capable of inflicting instant death are often legally welcomed and encouraged. The protest served to challenge Americans to reconsider what objects they consider obscene, normal, and acceptable in their daily lives.

Guns in classrooms are just as appropriate as dildos in classrooms. The normalization of gun culture has put too many guns in too many poorly trained hands in our public spaces. We’re here to show you how ridiculous it would look if everyone in society “carried” something.