Charlie Kirk was killed while answering a question about transgender mass shooters on the first stop of his “American Comeback Tour.” In those final moments, he repeated a lie, that trans people are a major driver of mass shootings even though they account for just 0.11% of such incidents over the past decade. Seconds later, gun violence. The very epidemic he defended claimed his life.

In this episode of So I Was Told, we cut through the selective outrage, the hypocrisy, and the pearl-clutching over “political violence.” This isn’t just politics. This is about mental health. PTSD, trauma, grief, fear — gun violence is a public health crisis. And when retribution comes, it won’t land first on the powerful, it will land, as always, on the margins: Black, brown, queer, and trans people.

Neutrality is a myth. Silence is consent. Which side are you on?

Sources for Show Notes

• Pew Research Center. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. (March 5, 2025).

• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Guns remain leading cause of death for children and teens. (March 2024).

• The Daily Beast. Charlie Kirk was asked about mass shootings moments before assassination. (Sept 2025).

• People Magazine. Charlie Kirk was answering a question about gun violence when he was fatally shot. (Sept 2025).

• Wikipedia. List of mass shootings in the United States in 2025. (Accessed Sept 2025).

• The Times. Charlie Kirk: Who was he? (Sept 2025).