‘Pick your gun’: Conservative organization tables in Piazza

National conservative organization Turning Point USA featured pro-Second Amendment and free speech messages while tabling April 2 and 3. But the club is not registered with student organizations and did not schedule to table in the Attallah Piazza, Dean of Students Jerry Price said. Photo by Max Weirauch

If you walked into the Attallah Piazza April 2, you might have seen a poster with an AR-15 rifle, a pistol and a 12-gauge shotgun on it.

“I’m pro choice (sic),” the sign read. “Pick your gun.”

National conservative organization Turning Point USA, which displayed the sign and tabled in the Piazza April 2 and 3, is not registered among Chapman’s student organizations, said Dean of Students Jerry Price, though The Panther located a club page appearing to belong to the club. The organization’s tabling was not officially scheduled through booking service 25Live, used by student organizations to book tabling space and classrooms.

“Turning Point is one of those that ebbs and flows greatly, more ebbing than flowing. I’m unaware that they’re even active; we have no record of Turning Point USA scheduling a table for the Piazza,” Price said. “Either they didn’t schedule it, or somebody else from Turning Point USA set up a table other than students.” 

The club officers listed on Turning Point USA’s Chapman club page, which may not be current, are Hannah Shotkoski and Abby Paine, who did not respond to a request for comment. 

The club’s tabling focused around pro-Second Amendment and free speech conversations.

For students who approached the table, a large board with the question “What do you think of guns?” written across the top allowed students to write their thoughts on the topic. One student wrote, “(Expletive) guns;” another wrote, “Gun control is somewhat necessary.” Another wrote, “Guns give us the ability to protect our rights.” 

Wyatt Logan, a Turning Point USA field representative who is helping establish the club on Chapman’s campus, told The Panther that the club’s goal is to foster conversation. Logan is not a Chapman student or graduate.

“It’s not about guns; it’s about people and morality,” he said. 

Price told The Panther that he believes the club’s leaders are freshmen, and although he supports the involvement of a national organization, he hopes that the club will be fully student-run. 

“We have a lot of groups that are affiliated with national organizations, but we don’t represent the national organizations, we represent and support the students,” Price said. “We don’t want the national groups coming in and representing our students. The whole point of student orgs is to develop leadership.”

Shaelan Kelly, an undeclared freshman who tabled for Turning Point USA April 2 and 3, declined questions, referring media inquiries to Logan. 

When asked whether he was concerned about some students finding the poster of guns on campus jarring, Logan said that unless the poster was calling for “violent action,” himself and the organization could say “whatever (they) wanted.” 

“If (a student) is not willing to approach the table, that’s their own fault,” Logan said, adding that it is up to students to learn about topics like the Second Amendment and free speech. 

Price said Chapman’s administration works to encourage students to value free speech, but to focus on “the speech that is being said,” rather than whether students have the right to say it.

“Unless a speech is a threat, or pervasive and harassing an individual, or is preventing someone from exercising their right to speak, then we’re going to permit it,” Price said.