On Sept. 10, on Utah Valley University’s campus, political right-wing influencer and founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, was fatally shot. Ever since this unexpected event, media platforms everywhere have been flooded with various updates, stories, perspectives, and intensely heated discourse.
In the days following the shooting, many young people have flocked to various social media platforms: TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, X, etc. These sites feature a spectrum of reactions, from people mourning, celebrating, and even posting traumatic retellings of their attendance at the scene of the shooting. Liberal political influencer Parker (known as @parkergetajob or @parkercol online) was one of many in attendance during the assassination. Having debated Kirk publicly in the past, he shared an emotional video on TikTok recounting his experience seeing the shooting unfold. Posted just hours after the incident, he condemned people celebrating Kirk’s death.
However, while Kirk’s death has been widely discussed, many other instances of armed brutality do not seem to be covered by the news in the same manner. This may point to a larger issue: the selective lack of coverage of many instances of gun violence. While journalism will cover these “lesser-discussed” events, they often do not make it to larger platforms nor become a topic of discourse on the average person’s social media feed.
As previously mentioned, Kirk was shot on a college campus. But on the same day, just minutes later, there was another school shooting at Evergreen High School in Colorado. Desmond Holly, a 16-year-old student at this high school who expressed neo-Nazi views and a fascination for mass shootings online, opened fire on multiple students, killing two, before then shooting himself.
Two prominent incidents of gun violence, both on school campuses and just a minute apart, bring a harsh reminder of how common this issue is in America. Since Sept. 10, there has been heavy discourse about the subject of gun violence. Hasan Piker, a leftist political influencer, summed it up pointedly. Discussing Kirk’s assassination on his Twitch, he said, “A bulletproof vest would not have saved Charlie Kirk… Security did not save Charlie Kirk. The only thing that could have potentially saved Charlie Kirk from getting shot in the neck is if our administrations, prior to this one, and this one as well, actually had reasonable gun control as a policy provision.”
“The only thing that could have potentially saved Charlie Kirk from getting shot in the neck is if our administrations, prior to this one, and this one as well, actually had reasonable gun control as a policy provision.”
– Hasan Piker.
Stereotypically, many people belonging to the political right strongly oppose the idea of stricter gun laws. Kirk was incredibly pro-gun and believed that imposing strict gun control was a violation of the Second Amendment. Since his assassination, a quote of his from a 2023 Turning Point event has gone viral, with him saying, “I think it’s worth to have a cost, of unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year, so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”
Compared to other countries, the United States has higher rates of gun ownership, with there being statistically more guns than people. Here, gun laws are determined by the state, and in many cases, are overtly lost. There is a horrifyingly prominent gun culture, with many individuals collecting guns as a hobby.
There are limited background checks for gun buyers in many states, making it incredibly easy to get access to one. The lack of background checks contributes to the appallingly high number of gun deaths in the past few years, with over 40,000 gun violence deaths in 2023, according to the Pew Research Center. Additionally, there have been over 200 school shootings since 2018. Because of this, it appears that Gen Z has grown up with the chilling fear that their school might be next. This has brought on, yet again, another wave of left-leaning youth demanding stricter gun control.
Regardless of how one may feel about the politics of Kirk or the coverage of the Colorado shooting, these are only some of the many traumatic events that could have been prevented by action from lawmakers. While many people are determined to advocate for a solution, no notable shift in priority has been made by national lawmakers. How many more incidents have to happen before a change is made?