On September 10th, 2025, Political Podcaster Charlie Kirk, was shot and killed while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University while speaking about his takes on gun violence. Kirk, who was 31 at the time of his death, was known for his hateful and extreme opinions on the internet on issues like racism, sexism, deportation, Palestine and most popularly – gun violence. I personally did not like the man, and thought that he used his platform to weaponize his words against marginalized communities. I think because of that, his opinion was much more harmful and dangerous than the general public’s can be, especially because he had powerful figures, like President Donald Trump, in his pocket. I don’t feel sympathy that Charlie Kirk died, I believe he died a cruel person and I don’t feel grief for HIM, but I find the senseless act of murder to be cruel and heartbreaking, even though I did not like him as a person. Since his death, the internet has once again been divided on their takes of this incident. Many, sad, heartbroken and distraught he was killed, while many are glad he died. This situation has brought out very hostile and very passionate opinions from people all across the spectrum. For instance, a lot of people are now saying political violence has gone too far, that he was just a person who didn’t deserve to be shot and killed and that gun violence needs to come to an end. This is where I ask: why now?
Charlie Kirk is not the first person to fall victim to political violence, let alone gun violence. He wasn’t even the only person who was shot at that hour of that day. Once again, another school shooting has taken place and received little to no media coverage and distress because, well, it’s just another school shooting. For a fact, it’s the 95th school shooting this year alone. But as Charlie Kirk once said when referring to school shootings, “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”. He viewed gun violence against people of color, against innocent Palestinians and against innocent school children as less than and a collateral we have to pay. And for what? For the same person who shot him to have the right to that gun. Just past June, a Minnesota Representative and her husband were shot and killed but the media went quiet. The same people who are condemning violence now when used against Kirk were the same ones who were silent then. This facade of caring about gun violence is what makes it normalized. You can’t be selective when it comes to being against gun violence, or else it will always exist. You can’t pick and choose when gun violence is and isn’t essential or else people will continue to be shot and killed. If you are truly upset about Charlie Kirk being murdered, be upset EVERY time someone is murdered. It should never come down to “who deserves it or not” no one deserves to be murdered, ever. This same energy that is so strong now needs to stay this way for real change to actually happen. I hope those who did not see gun violence as a prominent issue before his death now see that he is not the only victim, but one of many. Sympathy for Gun Violence cannot be selective. Too many lives have already been lost, not to just political violence but everywhere. If we continue to normalize gun violence, it will only get worse. Charlie Kirk’s legacy will always be the man who advocated for the rights to the gun that killed him, and so many more lives will be lost to the same cause. I hope that, in light of all the conflict now, that both sides of the spectrum on this issue can come together to put an end to gun violence and enact substantial gun restrictions.