Letters to the Editor: The killing of Charlie Kirk will only serve to make him a martyr
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To the editor: The killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk wasn’t just unhinged and violent, it was also phenomenally stupid, depending on the shooter’s goals (“Shooting of Charlie Kirk was ‘political assassination,’ Utah governor says,” Sept. 10).
The first question I would ask the shooter who killed Kirk would be this: What were you trying to accomplish? What was your objective? If the objective was to silence the man and put an end to his crusade, then all I can say is that, in all likelihood, the exact opposite is going to happen. His voice will not only be amplified, it will begin to resonate with those who weren’t even interested in it to begin with. That’s what martyrdom accomplishes, and Kirk is probably going to be transformed from a mere human being into a symbol — and you can’t kill an idea with a bullet. I cannot overstate just how stupid this was.
Arthur Saginian, Santa Clarita
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To the editor: I am shocked and sickened by the evil shooting of Kirk at Utah Valley University. There is no place for horrific violence like this. Either we are a country that values diversity of viewpoints and free speech or we are doomed. People need to be able to speak on campuses and in other public spaces without fear of being shot. I am thinking of his family at this time.
Paul Bacon, Hallandale Beach, Fla.
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To the editor: We should all be deeply saddened by Kirk’s killing. We should all send condolences to his wife and children. But we should not lionize this man. He was a right-wing ideologue who was anti-gun control and has engaged in rhetoric condemned as antisemitic, along with anti-immigrant and anti-transgender statements. He should not be awarded honors, nor mythologized.
Betsy Handler, Santa Monica
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To the editor: Horrific events like Kirk’s slaying make apparent to me that the 2nd Amendment to our Constitution is clearly not working as intended. Those few phrases in that amendment are working more as an inspiration to kill a presumed enemy than a deterrent to a disgruntled adversary. They’ve become the go-to text in response to so many folks’ grievances.
Is our government capable of anything resembling a sane reduction of guns in America? Other countries have managed as much.
Sylvia Lewis Gunning, Thousand Oaks
