What’s more distracting than sex toys in the classroom? Wondering whether the kid sitting next to you has a gun.

University of Texas at Austin students will boldly remind lawmakers to make love not war by strapping “giant swinging dildos” to their backpacks in a protest taglined #CocksNotGlocks.

Cocks Not Glocks is a provocative protest that will bring attention to a ludicrous new law that puts students in danger. The movement is in objection to “Campus Carry,” a law that will allow licensed holders to possess concealed handguns on college campuses in Texas beginning next year.

Drastic times call for drastic measures. The campaign should not be mistakenly viewed as crass or vulgar. Campus (DILDO) Carry is not meant to be inappropriate for the sake of being crude, but to send an important message about student safety at a time when gun violence is a national issue.

We need guns in classrooms as much as we need dildos. The campaign is a satirical critique on what lawmakers and school administrations consider to be obscene: sex toys, not firearms.

“The State of Texas has decided that it is not at all obnoxious to allow deadly concealed weapons in classrooms, however it DOES have strict rules about free sexual expression, to protect your innocence,” wrote event creator Jessica Jin, a 24-year-old alumnus of UT-Austin, on the protest’s Facebook page.

Jin chose dildos to make a point about the absurdity of the new law: UT-Austin students could receive a $500 fine for obscenity for displaying sex aids, but firearms will be legal.

Campus (DILDO) Carry is a legitimate event. It has 9,600 confirmed attendees on Facebook, and is scheduled to occur on Aug. 24, 2016 since the law goes into effect on Aug. 1. Though the demonstration will not take place until the beginning of next year’s fall semester, it has already started turning heads.

The movement has generated an impressive amount of media buzz and sparked discussion. Gun rights advocates consider the law a win. However, students and faculty should have the ultimate say in whether or not guns should be allowed since they are among those directly affected — not gun advocates.

Past research shows that 79 percent of college students from 15 Midwest colleges think the law is a horrible idea. The same holds true for 95 percent of university presidents of 401 surveyed, according to everytownresearch.org. Nine of 10 police chiefs agree that guns should be prohibited on university properties, and so does UT-Austin’s own chancellor.

College is already a potent mixture of alcohol, 20-year-olds, drama and impulsive decisions. Adding guns into that mix is a mistake.

Colleges in Texas have a year to figure out how to deal with “Campus Carry” before it goes into effect. The law does not apply to private universities and community colleges will not bear the burden until 2017, according to the Houston Chronicle. Under the newly signed bill, schools can establish gun-free zones to deal with the implementation of the law — so long as the regulations do not prohibit concealed carry on campuses altogether.

The bottom line is that no one needs to be packing heat in the classroom. With the #CocksNotGlocks campaign, students will retaliate against a reckless, unnecessary law that jeopardizes their safety in a way that cannot be ignored. Still, it will only generate the change it calls for if people take the message behind the joke to heart.

If Texas took guns in the classroom as seriously as it took dildos, the state would be a safer place.

Alison Gala is a senior public relations major and Spanish minor. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at aegala@syr.edu and followed on Twitter @alison_gala.

Published on October 20, 2015 at 12:40 am