Charlie Kirk’s Murder Wasn’t Political Violence, It Was Gun Violence

Pundits and Republicans keep calling Charlie Kirk’s murder “political violence.”

They should call it what it is: Gun violence.

The same gun violence that kills school children on a now-regular basis in the U.S.

During the same day or week that Kirk was murdered, here are the other headlines:

13-year-old boy with ‘school shooter ideations’ found with collection of guns, ‘mass shooting’ writings: Sheriff — ABC News

Evergreen High School shooter dead from self-inflicted gunshot wound, one student remains in critical condition — CPR News

Three teens critically wounded in suburban Denver high school shooting, authorities say — PBS News

And these were unusual in that only one died this time — the Evergreen High School shooter. Other schools and children have not been so fortunate. And it gets worse every year. Far worse. See the link for K-12 Shooting Data Base.

Just as in school shootings and murders, which we should be calling the deaths of children during school shootings, the primary problem is the easy access to guns in the U.S.

Currently, because the Kirk murder suspect is at large, we don’t even know if the shooter was politically motivated. They probably were, but we don’t know. Just as we don’t always know the motivation of school shooters, until after they’re caught or kill themselves. Sometimes not even then.

Mental health and lack of mental health services is often blamed, even as our current administration is cutting back on Medicaid and other funding sources for mental health providers. Republicans in my original state of Texas insist that security measures at schools will solve the “problem” of school shooters.

Blame is also being placed on insufficient security at Utah Valley University during the event where Kirk was speaking. Security, enhanced or not, is not enough.

It remains to seen or documented how often increased security has stopped a determined shooter, at schools or elsewhere. It didn’t stop a shooter who killed a man at a Trump rally. Who has more security than a President?

Security measures and increases in mental health access don’t seem to be the answer to gun violence. So what is?

The U.S. has more guns than people. Most of the people I know, even in my former state of Texas, don’t own guns. So who owns so many guns that they outnumber people?

This administration is making it more difficult for people to get help for mental and emotional issues, but easier for anyone who wants one, or several, to get guns.

I knew a stockpiler of guns. This was not a collection, it was a stockpile. He was a former police officer and not stable at the time. Fortunately, he was arrested for something else before being able to put those guns to use.

Would a background check and red flag laws have prevented him from stockpiling guns? He’d been fired from the police force, so a background check for arrests could have kept him from acquiring all those guns.

Would a red flag law have alerted authorities? Probably. He had court mandated counseling at one point.

Back to Kirk’s killer, and the kids who easily access guns to perpetrate school killings. Most troubled kids do cross paths with mental health experts at some point, including school counselors.

I’m a therapist who has also been a school counselor, and I have warned students’ parents and referred them to therapists when kids express violent tendencies and report access to guns. If a parent or guardian provided the firearm or left it accessible, which is the case in a majority of school shootings, warnings and referrals would be insufficient.

Red Flag laws would give therapists, school counselors, gun sellers, and police more efficacy in halting gun sales to people with mental health issues. Along with the ability to remove guns from those who are dangerous to themselves or others. The National Institute of Justice research agrees.

We don’t know yet if Kirk’s killer has mental health issues. I hope he is caught soon so we will have more information. Either way, this administration is making it more difficult for people to get help for mental and emotional issues, but easier for anyone who wants one, or several, to get guns.

Call it political violence if you want, Republicans. Your ongoing rhetoric and that of your President certainly seeds the soil for political violence from all sides.

However, this is one shooting in a year of, so far, 355 mass shootings, most at schools. Will this one shooting be a tipping point to finally get Republicans in Congress to forego their massive donations from the NRA and other gun lobbies and companies?

Will the death of one “influencer” finally do what hundreds of deaths of children couldn’t do? Will we get common sense gun laws?

Sadly, I doubt it. They will simply continue to cast blame on the left for “political violence” even though most mass shooters have posted and/or been influenced by right-wing rhetoric and manifestos.

From 2008 to 2017, 71% of mass shooters came from all movements of right-wing extremism. Only 3% were left-wing extremists.

Let’s stop being accusatory and imprecise in our language about shooters. They are all killers, and they could not have killed en masse or, as in Kirk’s killer’s case, from a long distance, without guns and easy access to them.

Stand up for children. Stand up for Kirk. Whatever you stand up for that preserves life after birth, do it.

Pass common sense, compassionate gun laws, extensive enough to save the innocent lives of children, and even those of demagogues, political influencers, and their followers.

. . .

Addendum: We now know Kirk’s murderer fits the familiar profile of far right extremist. Ironic. Tragic. Will the current administration and Congress finally look at what drives these shooters? Will they tone down the hate rhetoric? Will they finally enact enforceable gun laws?

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This post was previously published on New Choices.

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