GOP responds to Charlie Kirk's death with anything but gun control

Conservatives have come up with a host of measures they want taken to avenge right-wing activist Charlie Kirk's murder—none of which include gun reforms.

Most of the proposals are retributive, with Republicans blaming the nebulous "left" for Kirk's death and demanding that the "left" face punishment for it.

President Donald Trump—who was so distraught by Kirk’s death that he was seen happily dancing the next day at a Yankees game—said he wants to target progressive groups, claiming without evidence that they “contributed to this atrocity.” 

Congressional Republicans seemed happy to help Trump in that endeavor, with Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas and nearly two dozen other House Republicans demanding that GOP Speaker Mike Johnson create a new committee to investigate progressive groups that they baselessly accused of being responsible for Kirk's death.

"In the wake of numerous attacks on our way of life, the destruction of the rule of law, and the murder of innocent Americans, prominent and unknown alike, we must take every step to follow the money and uncover the force behind the NGOs, donors, media, public officials, and all entities driving this coordinated attack," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Johnson, specifically referencing right-wing boogeyman George Soros and the Southern Poverty Law Center as groups they want to see investigated.

Republican elected officials are also saying that anyone who responded to Kirk's death in a way they deemed inappropriate should be fired from their jobs—an extreme version of cancel culture that the right has decried in the past.

"Those celebrating the death of Charlie Kirk must be thrown out of civil society," Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL), a raging racist bigot who has made despicable comments himself, wrote in a post on X: "If you are aware of anyone in the 6th District of Florida—or heck, anywhere in the state—who works at any level of government, works for an entity that gets money from government (health care, university), or holds a professional license (lawyer, medical professional, teacher) that is publicly celebrating the violence, please contact my office. I will demand their firing, defunding, and license revocation."

Republican governors have made similar comments. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration threatened to sanction public school teachers who criticized Kirk after his death. And Texas Gov. Greg Abbott celebrated the arrest of a woman who he said was "mocking" Kirk's assassination.

Meanwhile, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) also vowed to introduce legislation that would ban anyone who "belittled the assassination of Charlie Kirk" from social media platforms

Republicans are also demanding changes on colleges and universities, which they baselessly blame for Kirk's killing.

Mollie Hemingway, the editor-in-chief of the right-wing Federalist website, said colleges and universities should be forced to have a certain number of conservative professors—a policy that amounts to the kind of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives Republicans have decried.

"All public universities should be required to have minimum 50% of their staff be conservative professors by spring 2026. In each department," Hemingway wrote in a post on X.

And Laura Loomer, the bigoted right-wing activist who has Trump's ear, said colleges and universities should be defunded altogether—even though colleges and universities conduct much of the groundbreaking research that has led to medical treatments and cures.

"It’s time to defund American universities. You don’t need to go to college. Charlie Kirk didn’t go to college," Loomer wrote in a post on X.

Kirk's gruesome public murder seems to have hit Republicans harder than past shootings, including one at a Colorado high school the very same day Kirk was killed in which a white supremacist critically injured two students before turning his gun on himself. 

Republicans also did not act nearly as upset when a Trump supporter targeted Democratic politicians in Minnesota, assassinating former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, and critically injuring state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife. In fact, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) mocked the assassination. 

Still, the haunting video of Kirk’s life being taken by a bullet was not enough for Republicans to finally admit that guns are the problem. Perhaps that's because Kirk himself wouldn't want gun reform. In fact, in 2023 Kirk said that “some gun deaths” are worth it “so that we can have the Second Amendment.”

Apparently, however, Republicans don't hold the First Amendment as sacrosanct, as they want to be the thought police in the wake of Kirk's death.