There are people who are anti-gun that I kind of understand where they're coming from. I don't agree with them, but I get why they feel that way. Yet some people stand by the Second Amendment even after being a victim of "gun violence." Republican Rep. Steve Scalise (LA-1), for example.
Another example? Erika Kirk, the widow of slain TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk.
She has come out strong in support of the Second Amendment just two months after her husband's murder at a Utah university:
Erika Kirk said her support for the Second Amendment has not wavered following the murder of her husband, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, in September.
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She pointed to multiple factors that she believes spur shootings in the U.S., including poor mental health, anxiety, and depression — particularly among young Americans. Kirk said her husband felt the same way.
“What I’ve realized through all of this is that you can have individuals that will always resort to violence. And what I’m afraid of is that we are living in a day and age where they think violence is the solution to them not wanting to hear a different point of view,” she said.
Kirk continued, “That’s not a gun problem, that’s a human — deeply human — problem. That is a soul problem, that is a mental [problem], that is a very deeper issue.”
While no one who understands history to any degree really ascribes to the idea that violence never solves anything, most people have enough sense to know that it shouldn't be the first option in dealing with disagreements.
What happened to Charlie Kirk was the result of someone who thought that words were too dangerous to be heard, and he used an assassin's censorship to silence a man he disagreed with.
He could have studied up on the subject and debated Charlie. That's what he was there for, after all, and he didn't win every debate. The admitted killer could have battled him with words in front of thousands, and he didn't.
Instead, he used a rifle – one that would not be restricted under any gun control measure being considered anywhere in the country.
Erika is right. It's not a gun problem. It's a people problem.
It wasn't that long ago when former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated with a homemade firearm that looked like something rejected from a steampunk prop department. This was despite Japan's strict gun control laws.
That's because the killer wanted Abe dead, and he wasn't going to be stopped.
If Erika Kirk supported gun control, I'd oppose her on the issue, but I'd at least understand where she was coming from, just as I understand where people like Fred Guttenberg and Manuel Oliver are coming from, as they both lost children in the Parkland massacre.
The fact that she doesn't, though, tells me that the principles she and Charlie ascribed to actually matter to her, and she's not going to blame the tool, just the tool who pulled the trigger.
That's something worthy of respect, even if there are people out there who will refuse to give it.
