Throughout his career, Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old conservative media figure and founder of Turning Point USA, was a vocal critic of gun control. Here are some of the notable statements he made about guns over the years:
In 2018, Kirk spoke at the NRA-ILA Leadership Forum, asserting, "There is no First Amendment without a Second Amendment, make no mistake. You can't pick and choose your freedoms... They put in the Second Amendment to protect us against government tyranny." (Fonte)
In 2023, during a TPUSA Faith event, Kirk emphasized the importance of an armed citizenry, saying, "We must also be real. We must be honest with the population. Having an armed citizenry comes with a price, and that is part of liberty... I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights." At the same event, he suggested increasing gun access as a way to reduce gun violence, asking, "If our money and our sporting events and our airplanes have armed guards, why don’t our children?" (Fonte)
Back in 2013, Kirk dismissed most gun control arguments, comparing them to "trolling." (Fonte)
In 2022, he claimed that gun control, vaccines, and face masks are about "taking freedoms away from others" and urged his followers, "Don't fall for it."
Regarding the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting, where the attacker purchased handgun ammunition online without age verification, Kirk questioned whether "more laws" would prevent school shootings. He consistently argued that increased gun control would only make "bad guys" the only ones with guns. (Fonte) He also stated in 2018, "guns save lives," questioning, "Why don't we protect our schools with armed guards?" (Fonte) In 2019, Kirk denied that gun control could stop mass shootings, claiming, "Democrats don't want to fix gun violence. They want to take away your Second Amendment." (Fonte)
After the 2018 Parkland school shooting—the deadliest mass shooting in a high school—Kirk appeared on Fox News to oppose more gun control laws, arguing that the problem stemmed from "a culture problem in this country that has stemmed from failing public schools and bad government programs." (Fonte) In a 2020 video from Turning Point USA, Kirk said, "We have a fatherlessness problem. We have an over-medicating youth problem. We have an isolation problem. We have a depression problem. We have a nutrition problem. Guns are not part of that entire equation." He added, "I own plenty of firearms. They're perfectly fine in their safe, they're not shooting themselves. It takes a broken individual that comes from a broken family or a broken culture. We as conservatives, every day, should say, 'Rebuild the American family. Put fathers back in their homes.'" (Fonte) Most recently, Kirk’s final words were in response to a question about gun control. An audience member asked if he knew how many transgender mass shooters there had been over the past decade. Kirk replied, "Too many." When asked about the total number of mass shooters, Kirk hesitated before asking, "Counting or not counting gang violence?" before being shot. (Fonte)
Regarding the 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting, where the attacker purchased handgun ammunition online without age verification, Kirk questioned whether "more laws" would prevent school shootings. He consistently argued that increased gun control would only make "bad guys" the only ones with guns. (Fonte) He also stated in 2018, "guns save lives," questioning, "Why don't we protect our schools with armed guards?" (Fonte) In 2019, Kirk denied that gun control could stop mass shootings, claiming, "Democrats don't want to fix gun violence. They want to take away your Second Amendment." (Fonte)
After the 2018 Parkland school shooting—the deadliest mass shooting in a high school—Kirk appeared on Fox News to oppose more gun control laws, arguing that the problem stemmed from "a culture problem in this country that has stemmed from failing public schools and bad government programs." (Fonte) In a 2020 video from Turning Point USA, Kirk said, "We have a fatherlessness problem. We have an over-medicating youth problem. We have an isolation problem. We have a depression problem. We have a nutrition problem. Guns are not part of that entire equation." He added, "I own plenty of firearms. They're perfectly fine in their safe, they're not shooting themselves. It takes a broken individual that comes from a broken family or a broken culture. We as conservatives, every day, should say, 'Rebuild the American family. Put fathers back in their homes.'" (Fonte) Most recently, Kirk’s final words were in response to a question about gun control. An audience member asked if he knew how many transgender mass shooters there had been over the past decade. Kirk replied, "Too many." When asked about the total number of mass shooters, Kirk hesitated before asking, "Counting or not counting gang violence?" before being shot. (Fonte)