In light of the recent assassination of conservative activist Charles (Charlie) Kirk, who was fatally shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University, the topic of gun violence has once again resurfaced as a widespread topic of discussion among various social media platforms.
Kirk was known as an advocate for the protection of gun laws in the United States. According to The Guardian, Kirk stated his opinion on gun violence in 2023 at an event organized by his conservative group, Turning Point USA.
“I think it’s worth it 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,” said Kirk, speaking to an audience of attendees. Kirk’s death is a harrowing example of the fact that gun violence spares no one, not even those in support of it.
Kirk was not the only victim of gun violence in mid-September 2025, as another school shooting occurred in Colorado. According to NBC News, the shooter fired off 20 rounds and injured two students before ultimately taking his own life. This attack occurred on the same day as the assassination of Kirk, only an hour or so after he was shot.
Shootings occur in schools, shopping malls, even in the middle of the street. Under the current gun laws, anyone is susceptible to becoming a victim of a shooting at any given time. American citizens should not be constantly walking around in fear of someone suddenly brandishing a gun and blindly firing bullets. As of September 10, 2025, there have been 47 school shootings in the U.S. this year, according to CNN. The Gun Violence Archive has reported over 300 mass shootings in 2025. Almost 43,000 people died from gun related injuries in 2023 alone, according to NPR. Over half of those deaths were suicides, which are a frequently overlooked consequence of the country’s current gun laws. In the case of gun violence being a substantial issue, the statistics speak for themselves.
Federal law in the United States has set minimum age requirements for the purchase and use of guns. The current limit is set at 18 years or older for the purchase of long guns, and 21 years or older for handguns. All 50 states allow some form of concealed carry, with many states also allowing the unconcealed carry of firearms. However, the suspected shooter involved in the Colorado school shooting was reported to be a 16-year-old who utilized a handgun to carry out the attack, according to CBS.
Unfortunately, gun violence within America is no longer a rarity. Shootings are constantly reported on the news, each new incident reigniting a societal debate over gun laws without really producing meaningful change. Strong clashing opinions within the argument over the protection of gun laws leave Washington D.C. in a gridlock, not allowing much room for solutions to be implemented, according to the International Bar Association. It would be ideal to have one singular fix for the issue of gun violence, but in reality it would take much more than that to lessen the extremities of this problem across the U.S. Gun violence in America is utterly complex and would require a layered, multifaceted approach in order to attack the gun violence at the root causes.
