US college student causes online scandal with provocative pro-gun tweet
THIS is the viral photo that has outraged a nation which is still reeling from February’s deadly high school shooting.
A GUN-LOVING college senior’s graduation photo has gone viral in the US in the wake of February’s Parkland school shooting.
Brenna Spencer, who is graduating from the University of Tennessee with a communications degree, posted the photo on Twitter on April 8.
She is pictured wearing a pink “Women for Trump” T-shirt which she is lifting up, exposing a handgun tucked into her jeans.
• Couple earns $18k ‘on the side’
• Man loses $1.8 million ‘Mr Stinky’ farting case
• Sacked midwife ‘too busy for loo breaks’
It was accompanied by the caption: “I don’t take normal college graduation photos ...”
Ms Spencer appeared on Fox & Friends yesterday, and defended her provocative post.
She said she wanted her graduation photo to reflect her passion for the Second Amendment — the right to bear arms.
I don’t take normal college graduation photos... pic.twitter.com/eI1NvLFYHs
— Brenna Spencer (@BrennaSpencer) April 7, 2018
“The Second Amendment has been under attack — especially on college campuses,” Ms Spencer said on the program.
“So I think it’s really important to empower people to show that you should be allowed to protect yourself. Your rights don’t stop at a college campus.”
Despite attracting serious criticism on social media, Ms Spencer stood by her post.
“It’s really, really important to empower the tens of millions of ... gun-owning women and let them know that they have a voice,” she said.
“It’s really, really important to stand up for what you believe in. It’s important to voice your opinions.”
The post has already attracted almost 90,000 “likes” and more than 12,000 comments.
And while Ms Spencer was roundly slammed for the post, she also had plenty of support from other gun enthusiasts such as Edward Hazzard, who posted: “Good for you! Don’t let the loony left try to control you, or push you around! We’re all here to support you........”
Others, such as Reed, were pro-gun but disagreed with Ms Spencer’s motives: “I’m 100% pro gun but brandishing a firearm for a photo shoot or showing it off to try and look cool is just stupid. They are tools. Why brag about carrying a gun?”
Ms Spencer’s post was published in the midst of the fallout from the February 14 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida, which killed 17 students and staff members and injured a further 17 at the hands of 19-year-old gunman Nikolas Cruz.
It is one of the world’s deadliest school massacres, and sparked an instant wave of protests and student marches and renewed calls for tougher gun laws.
Survivors including 18-year-old Emma González have emerged as leaders in the gun control debate, which continues to rage in the country.
US radio host Jamie Allman’s program was recently pulled after he threatened to sodomise fellow survivor David Hogg with a “hot poker”.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 62 mass shootings, 3889 gun deaths and 6797 gun injuries in the US in 2018 alone.
Real-time data for the first 100 days of 2018:
— Gun Violence Archive (@GunDeaths) April 10, 2018
•3,889 gun deaths
•6,797 gun injuries
•164 children (age 0-11) shot/killed
•684 teenagers (age 12-17) shot/killed
•448 incidents of defensive gun use
•451 unintentional shootings
•565 armed home invasions
•62 mass shootings pic.twitter.com/FBZ5aPygUB
Another shock departure as Seven star quits
The weekend newsreader says it is “time for a new chapter” after joining the Seven network in April 2022, but she has already started in another job.
Seven West Media’s huge profit slump
An Australian media giant has posted a huge slump in profit but says it is making “solid progress” under a new operating structure.
Cover marks ‘beginning of the end’ for Musk
A Time Magazine illustration of the billionaire seated in the Oval Office could make him a threat in the eyes of the President, commentators have said.