Charlie Kirk Is Dead. His Hate Isn’t.

Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA and a prominent figure in the modern conservative movement, died this week from gun violence. At just 31 years old, Kirk had already established himself as one of the most polarizing voices in American politics. To his supporters, he was a fearless defender of conservative values; to his critics, he was a man who built his career by demeaning people of color, LGBTQIA+ communities, women, and immigrants.

The Human Cost Kirk Ignored

The United States recorded 46,728 gun deaths in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Behind these numbers are families torn apart: women widowed, children growing up without fathers, and parents burying their sons.

Kirk’s politics often elevated gun rights while dismissing empathy and compassion as “damaging.” Critics argue that this helped normalize a culture where preventable deaths were treated as collateral. Mothers are left raising children alone under the very policies he defended. Wives bury their partners while politicians raise money off the Second Amendment. Families sit at kitchen tables staring at empty chairs—losses compounded by a political culture that prioritizes power over people.

The irony is that while Kirk rejected empathy, it is empathy that is demanded daily of the survivors who must continue on in the wake of America’s epidemic of gun violence.

A Lifetime of Gun Violence

Charlie Kirk was born in 1993. Since then, the United States has lost over 1.4 million lives to gun violence. That’s more than a million families shattered—mothers left to raise children alone, kids growing up without fathers, sisters mourning brothers, communities burying neighbors.

Every year, the toll climbed higher. In 1999, around 28,900 people were killed with guns. By 2021, the number peaked near 48,800. In 2023, it was 46,728 lives. And now, in 2025, Charlie Kirk himself is counted among the dead—just one more casualty in America’s endless epidemic.

The cruel irony is that Kirk spent his life mocking empathy and defending the very policies that kept this crisis unchecked. Gun violence does not discriminate. It claims activists and schoolchildren, police officers and pastors, parents and pundits. And the system Kirk defended has left a trail of more than a million bodies in his own lifetime.

Gun Violence, Not Political Violence

Although some online reactions have attempted to frame Kirk’s death as political, authorities confirm it was an act of gun violence, not organized political violence. This distinction matters. Gun violence is an American crisis that spares no one—from community leaders to high-profile figures.

The assassinations of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Berta Cáceres, Marielle Franco, Harvey Milk, and Marsha P. Johnson illustrate how violence can silence leaders while reshaping movements. In each case, martyrdom played a powerful role in strengthening ideologies rather than erasing them.

Kirk’s death risks following a similar trajectory. Despite his divisive legacy, his supporters are likely to portray him as a victim, transforming him into a martyr for the far right. This narrative could serve to radicalize his base further, granting his ideas a longevity that his life alone may not have sustained.

What Comes Next

The death of Charlie Kirk does not mark the end of the political project he represented. Figures such as Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis continue to advance policies and rhetoric that critics argue deepen inequality, inflame cultural divides, and perpetuate cycles of violence.

While reactions to Kirk’s passing vary across the political spectrum, one fact is clear: the politics of hate he amplified remain alive. His death will not end them. For some, it may even strengthen them.