This week, Orange Coast College banned students from the Young Americans for Freedom chapter from displaying a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag supporting the 2nd Amendment. Why…because the flag depicts two guns.
On Wednesday, February 13, 2019, members of the Young Americans for Freedom chapter at Orange Coast College participated in a student organization recruitment fair. As part of their booth, students displayed a flag that said, “Don’t Tread on Me” and “2nd Amendment Since 1789.” The flag also depicted the silhouette of two guns. During the recruitment fair, two university officials demanded that the flag be taken down as a violation of school policy AP 3530.
School policy AP 3530 prohibits “firearms, knives, explosives or other dangerous objects” from campus. It also prohibits any “facsimile of a firearm,” which according to university administrators, includes the mere depiction of a gun on a flag.
“The intent behind the school’s policy is to promote the physical safety of students on campus,” said Spencer Brown, Young America’s Foundation Spokesman. “School administrators are manipulating school policy to censor students’ support of the Second Amendment.”
“We displayed this flag to express our support for the Second Amendment. It is completely outrageous that the college would censor our freedom of expression to display the image of a firearm. It is very un-American of the administration to prohibit us from displaying our Constitutional right.” said Benjamin Keene, chairman of the Orange Coast College Young Americans for Freedom.
For additional information or to request an interview contact YAF Spokesman Spencer Brown via [email protected] or 800-872-1776.
