About 100 people with flatulence noise makers marched against a mock mass shooting Saturday at the University of Texas to divert attention away from pro-gun demonstrators.

The group took to the streets of Austin with machines that make fart sounds in their counter “mass farting” protest, the Houston Chronicle reports. Their march was in response to guns rights groups’ plans to stage a fake mass shooting at the school, complete with fake blood.

“This is about a choice between fear and a little bit of good humor,” organizer and UT alumnus Andrew Dobbs told the crowd, according to the Chronicle. “We are in a scary time right now and lots of scary things are happening, and some people want us to be more afraid.”

“I choose to believe that fear is not the solution to the threat of our time,” he added. “Laughing in the face of fear is a courageous act and toting a gun around everywhere you go, maybe not so much.”

Dobbs and his fellow protesters shouted “Texas farts!” and “We fart in your general direction!” according to the Chronicle.

Earlier this week, a task force recommended that students at the University of Texas should be able to carry handguns in classrooms.

Before the members of the Campus Carry Policy Working Group submitted the gun guidelines to the university’s president, pro-gun demonstrators said they would stage a mock shooting in a bid to end gun-free zones.

[Houston Chronicle]

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