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On Charlie Kirk's assassination [1]

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Date: 2025-09-12

I’ve been thinking a lot about Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Firstly, no one deserves that death. He may have been a devoted father and husband — we don’t know how he was privately. Secondly, I believe that it is arrogant for anyone to take another’s life. We assume when we become judge, jury and executioner that someone is beyond redemption. I believe that no one is beyond redemption. Of course there have to be consequences, but even prisoners with long terms can find forms of redemption. Programs such as prisoners training assistance dogs are one example of that. It takes a lot of time, and sounds like it is tremendously rewarding on a personal level. As a dog lover I know how wonderful it is to have a dog in your life. That’s just one example how, even in the midst of a consequence, people can find a form of redemption and humanity.

That being said, Charlie Kirk was a force of division and hatred. He ruined many people’s lives. His choices, using his megaphone of Turning Point USA, spread division and targeted many people. He was responsible for the destruction of academic and professional careers. Many people now live in fear for their lives due entirely to his efforts.

In this country, it is far too easy to acquire a weapon. Utah has one of the most lax gun laws anywhere in the country. Professors have to deal with students showing up in class with a gun — it is legal, and there is nothing that they can do about it. I personally do not have a problem with people owning guns per se. I choose not to own a weapon. But, I know people who do. In my home state, you have to pass a very vigorous background check to conceal carry. I know a construction contractor who has one, because he often carries large sums of cash. I understand why he chooses to carry his weapon. He has been vetted by a thorough background check, and is responsible.

That being said, there are many parts of the country where it is really easy to get a weapon. And, there are many places were it is hard to get a weapon, but in the neighboring states, it’s easy. In DC, many of the guns come in from Virginia. Guns are relatively easy to acquire. If across the entire country we had reasonable restrictions on gun purchases, such as universal background checks and periodic renewals of gun licenses, I would feel much better about it. For cars, we insist that people renew their licenses, get their vision checked, and take a written and road test to get their licenses in the first place. Why not make people prove that that they know how to clean and care for their weapon, and perhaps have a marksmanship test to boot? If you can PROVE that you can be a responsible gun owner, in my humble opinion, that’s fine. But, you should have to prove it. Red flag laws also have their place. If someone proves that they are no longer a responsible gun owner, they should no longer have access to their firearm(s).

We have a situation in this country where it is ridiculously easy to get a firearm that is capable of killing from a long distance with no problem. It’s also ridiculously easy to get a machine gun capable of killing hundreds in a matter of minutes. This is a massive public safety issue that, for whatever reasons, we refuse to address.

Now, over the past few decades, we have people fanning political hatred. Hatred of Jews, Blacks, Hispanics, Gays, trans — basically, the Other. You are not of my tribe, therefore I hate you. Hate engenders hate, so the easy reaction is to hate right back. We are locked in a vicious cycle of hatred. January 6th took that to a whole new level. Suddenly, political violence was OK. At first there was a huge backlash from both Republicans and Democrats. Then, Kevin McCarthy went down to Mar-a-Lago, Mitch McConnell refused to back impeachment… and Trump got off scot-free. The Biden administration hoped that he would just go away, but of course he did not.

The ultimate endorsement of political violence was pardoning the January 6th offenders. Not just the people that wandered into the Capitol as part of the herd, but the people that wounded or killed police officers, defaced offices, etc. It is a horrible insult to our men and women in uniform that Ashli Babbitt is getting a funeral with full military honors. She is a traitor, pure and simple — fighting to prevent the peaceful transfer of power.

Recently, I watched the movie of the “Hamilton” musical on the big screen. Until January 6th, I hadn’t thought much about how important it was for Washington to step aside. His decision to not run again, when clearly he could’ve won in a landslide, set the precedent of the peaceful transfer of power in our nascent democracy. That critical precedent was horribly broken. Our Founding Fathers, for all their flaws, set up a brilliant system of government. But, they did not anticipate this. We can do better than hatred and division as a political tool. We MUST do better.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/12/2343234/-On-Charlie-Kirk-s-assassination?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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