The recent death of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk has led to an uproar of controversy in the largely divided political landscape of America.
The assassination has conservative Americans in turmoil. For liberals, his death has become an opportunity to highlight controversial opinions he expressed throughout his career, such as his ardent support of upholding the Second Amendment right to own guns despite firearm-related deaths.
In a Truth Social post, President Donald Trump said he fully blames “radical left political violence” for not only Charlie Kirk’s death, but for numerous acts of “terrorism” in the nation. This way of thinking is not only dangerous, but it is completely ignorant of the need for gun reform. Trump’s response to Kirk’s death uses this violent act to support his own political agenda against liberals, which is a disgrace to all victims of gun violence, including Charlie Kirk.
The response to Kirk’s death by the general public has become fuel for the partisan divide in our country. However, missing from many debates regarding his death is the gun itself.
Just one minute after the fatal shot fired at Utah Valley University, a 911 call in Evergreen, Colorado, revealed a 16-year-old student at Evergreen high school had opened fire on students, injuring two and killing himself.
This is just one of many school shootings this year that have led to injuries and deaths.
These nearly simultaneous events should bring to light the need for stricter laws and policies to be put into place regarding guns. But, it feels like we’re only going backwards.
In less than a year, the Trump administration has taken action against gun violence prevention and reversed the work of previous administrations. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives faced major budget cuts and underwent the revision or elimination of life-saving restrictions intended to prevent gun-related deaths. Additionally, the administration has approved the sale of devices that allow standard firearms to fire like machine guns, enabling shooters to inflict even more horrific damage.
The administration has also rescinded funding of local gun violence and crime prevention programs and issued an executive order to revise and eliminate gun violence prevention legislation from former President Joe Biden’s administration.
However, out of all actions that have been taken, the most haunting is the removal of a memorial at the ATF headquarters in Washington, D.C., reminding employees “of the human toll of gun violence.”
Will these victims — police officers, children and others — be forgotten? What about the thousands of others dying every day due to gun violence?
Charlie Kirk’s supporters continue to respond to his horrific death with mourning, anger and, for some, vengeance. But Kirk is one of many who have died too soon because of gun violence. The reason should be irrelevant to how we respond to gun violence. His assailant not agreeing with his political views should not override the fact that he ultimately died from a bullet.
Desensitization to gun deaths has led many to place the blame solely on political conflict, but I urge people of all political parties to acknowledge the gun as the object allowing for such gruesome violence to occur.
While Kirk may have claimed it is “worth it” to have “some gun deaths” every year to keep the second amendment, I wonder if his children would agree.
No human life is worth losing to maintain the right to bear arms.
Kendall O’Connor is a 20-year-old UF English junior.
