Charlie Kirk Says Gun Deaths 'Unfortunately' Worth it to Keep 2nd Amendment

Charlie Kirk, the conservative founder and president of Turning Point USA, said during an organizational event on Wednesday that gun deaths in exchange for the preservation of Second Amendment rights is part of America's reality.

Kirk's comments come about one week after three children and three adults were killed at the Christian Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Nashville mass shooting was the 130th mass shooting in the United States in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive, an online database of gun violence incidents across America using data collected from law enforcement, media, government and commercial sources.

The U.S. has averaged more than one mass shooting per day since the start of 2023, per the archive, which puts the nation on track to exceed the 647 recorded mass shootings of 2022.

"You will never live in a society when you have an armed citizenry and you won't have a single gun death," Kirk said at a Turning Point USA Faith event on Wednesday, as reported by Media Matters for America. "That is nonsense. It's drivel. But I am—I think it's worth it.

"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. That is a prudent deal. It is rational. Nobody talks like this. They live in a complete alternate universe."

He added that "having an armed citizenry comes with a price, and that is part of liberty." Other solutions he mentioned included armed guards at school buildings, as well as "having more fathers in the home."

Kirk also compared gun deaths to fatalities resulting from automobile accidents.

"Having an armed citizenry comes with a price, and that is part of liberty," he said. "Driving comes with a price—50,000, 50,000, 50,000 people die on the road every year. That's a price. You get rid of driving, you'd have 50,000 less auto fatalities. But we have decided that the benefit of driving—speed, accessibility, mobility, having products, services is worth the cost of 50,000 people dying on the road.

"So we need to be very clear that you're not going to get gun deaths to zero. It will not happen. You could significantly reduce them through having more fathers in the home, by having more armed guards in front of schools. We should have a honest and clear reductionist view of gun violence, but we should not have a utopian one."

However, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data analyzed by The Trace, firearm injuries now represent the 12th leading cause of death in the U.S. and have surpassed car crashes in five consecutive years.

There were 48,832 gun-related deaths in 2021 per CDC data—the highest single-year number on record and up 8 percent compared to 2020.

The New England Journal of Medicine, also citing CDC data, reported that in 2020 firearm-related injuries became the leading cause of death in individuals between 1 and 19 years of age—surpassing both traffic-related and nontraffic-related deaths for the first time.

On Wednesday, in response to the Nashville shooting, students walked out of class at reportedly more than 300 schools in 42 states and Washington, D.C., as a national call for gun safety legislation, according to StudentsDemandAction.org. It was organized by Students Demand Action and Moms Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety's grassroots network.

"The fact that guns are the leading killer of children and teens and more than 40,000 people are killed by guns every year in this country is not 'a prudent deal'—it's an obscene tragedy," Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, told Newsweek via email in response to Kirk's remarks. "Gun safety laws are proven to save lives and are constitutional. Any suggestion otherwise is shilling for the gun industry as they seek to maximize profits with no regard for the safety of our children."

A Gallup poll conducted in February found that 63 percent of Americans were dissatisfied with U.S. gun laws—the highest number in 23 years of surveys. Responses were mostly across party lines, with Democrats and the majority of independents expressing discontent with gun laws and believing that gun control legislation has not gone far enough.

"While I hate to give oxygen to a radical carnival barker like Charlie Kirk, it's important that people hear the facts," Chris Harris, vice president of gun control group GIFFORDS, told Newsweek via email. "The truth is, this is a false choice concocted by the gun lobby. We can affirm law-abiding Americans' right to bear arms while simultaneously protecting innocent people from being gunned down at work, school or church.

"That's why the vast majority of gun owners support common sense gun laws to keep deadly weapons away from people at clear risk of harming themselves or others."

Kris Brown, president of gun control organization Brady, told Newsweek via email that Americans' concerns about gun violence—from school shootings to violent street crime—continue to climb their priorities list and is signifying a shift in the political status quo.

She said the time has passed for excuses and "thoughts and prayers."

"I would dare Mr. Kirk to ask the parents and family of a gun violence victim if they believe their child's life was worth an extremist view of the Second Amendment that allows anyone, anywhere to own and carry a weapon of war," Brown said. "That is the reality too many American families face every day, when they get that phone call and are told they will never see their child alive again because of this country's lax gun laws."

Last week, House Democrats called on Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan to schedule a vote on an assault weapons ban.

California Representative Mike Thompson also again put forward background check legislation, saying Republicans are not "serious" about protecting Americans.

Thompson told Newsweek via email that Kirk's statements are "asinine."

"Who chooses which lives Charlie Kirk wants to sacrifice?" Thompson said. "Reasonable and responsible people know you can save lives and protect our Second Amendment."

Newsweek reached out to Turning Point USA for comment.

Update 4/6/23, 9:06 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.

Correction 4/6/23, 9:45 p.m. ET: The headline on this article has been changed to add proper context to Charlie Kirk's comments. We regret the error.