Wednesday’s ***** Not Glocks protest against Texas’s “campus carry” law was held on the first day of classes at the University of Texas at Austin, which has spearheaded resistance to the new rule from students and faculty members at colleges in the state.

The rally took place along a tree-lined avenue beneath the tower at the heart of the campus from where Charles Whitman embarked on a shooting spree on 1 August 1966.
The new law, passed last year by Texas’s Republican-dominated legislature, came into effect on the 50th anniversary of the massacre. It permits licensed gun owners aged 21 and older to carry concealed handguns in most places on public university campuses, including dorms and classrooms.

Demonstrators gathered to brandish sex toys in the air or strap them to their backpacks. Or other places. “We have crazy laws here but this is by far the craziest, that you can’t bring a ***** on to campus legally but you can bring your gun. We’re just trying to fight absurdity with absurdity,” said Rosie Zander, a 20-year-old history student.

“We wanted something fun that people could really engage in. Because it’s hard to get involved in the political process at our age, people our age don’t tend to vote or get involved, and this is so easy. Strap a ***** on and you’re showing the Texas legislature this is not a decision we wanted.”

The Campus (*****) Carry movement began last year when Jessica Jin, a University of Texas alum, organised a protest aiming to satirise the apparent absurdity of weapons being allowed on campus but not the showing of sex toys, which arguably contravenes university rules and a state law against displays of obscene items.

The choice of device also aims to challenge perceptions that carrying a gun is normal. Jin told the crowd on Wednesday that she felt self-conscious shopping at Home Depot this week with a ***** strapped to her backpack, but protesters should “deal with the discomfort, deal with the weird looks – that’s the way we should be treating gun culture”.

Miguel Robles, a 19-year-old political communications student, wielded a poster that said: “You’re packin’ heat, I’m packin’ meat.” He said that he feels “less safe now that campus carry exists. During class you’re not sure if you can argue or have discussions any more because if someone gets very offended at any moment, [violence] could just spill out … It’s just very unnerving, really,” he added. “I haven’t met anyone that thinks it’s a good idea.”