It is the blackest irony, like a sick joke by the universe, that Charlie Kirk was gunned down as he discussed gun violence. That word – ‘violence’ – was the last he ever uttered. Milliseconds later, violence of the gravest kind was visited on him. Actually, we need to be more specific: Kirk was discussing trans violence in the seconds before his death. He was pushing back against one of his student interlocutors who seemed to downplay the phenomenon of trans mass shootings. The student badgered Kirk to say how many such shootings there have been. ‘Too many’, Kirk replied. Seconds later, his carotid artery was severed and he was dead.
