Open-carry advocate to visit Kent during O’rourke talk

Ohio’s open-carry laws, concealed-carry permits and civil rights during police encounters. The group, begun in Summit and Portage counties, has spread throughout the state.

On Monday, Pucillo said that he and his brother, Eric Pucillo, were planning a walk through the campus while O’rourke is there to provide “education, talk to Beto’s supporters and clear up misconceptions.” “We’re an open-carry campus. There are restrictions for faculty, students and staff but anyone can carry at any time,” university spokesman Eric Mansfield said.

Mansfield said the university is working with the College Democrats, who are sponsoring O’rourke’s appearance, on security measures,

O’rourke presented a proposal for a mandatory gun buyback program during the third Democratic presidential debate. On Tuesday, he will speak in Dayton and at Ohio State University, and on Wednesday he will speak in Pittsburgh, then Kent State and Erie, Pennsylvania.

O’rourke’s speech, and Pucillo’s demonstration, come in the middle of the university’s yearlong 50th commemoration of May 4, 1970, when Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on students protesting the Vietnam War and the U.S. expansion into Cambodia.

“I obviously can’t speak for anyone else, but if I was on campus during that time, I would have wanted a gun to defend myself and not wait for someone else to come with a gun to defend me,” Pucillo said.

O’rourke is scheduled to speak at 6 p.m., and Pucillo said he will start to walk near the Student Center around 6:15 p.m.