Gun Violence, Mourning, and What We Refuse
Gun violence in the United States is not merely a crisis of public safety, it is a moral failure. A society reveals its values through what it tolerates, what it defends, and most tellingly, who it mourns. The recent killing of Charlie Kirk, a public figure known for his uncompromising defense of gun rights and inflammatory rhetoric, invites a reflection not only on violence, but on the selective moral economy of grief. When Do We Get to Grieve Honestly? Another man is dead. That should matter. And yet, I don’t feel the reflexive grief I’m told I should. I feel angry, not at the death itself, but at the performance surrounding it. This man, like so many before him, died from gun violence. But unlike most, he spent his career defending the conditions that make such deaths possible. He wasn’t a bystander. He was an architect of the system. Now, in death, his name is draped in reverence. The flags are lowered. The tributes roll in. But I keep asking myself: When ...
