*One year ago today, on September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. He was 31.
The FBI says Kirk was fatally shot from a rooftop during the campus event and that a rifle was recovered afterward. A suspect is now awaiting trial on charges that include aggravated murder. Prosecutors allege that Kirk was targeted because of his political views; the defense has challenged aspects of the prosecution’s case.
But on this anniversary, America should ask a harder question:
What did we learn?
There have been tributes. Congress condemned Kirk’s assassination. President Donald Trump proclaimed October 14, 2025, a National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk and posthumously awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Proposals have also surfaced to memorialize Kirk with a permanent statue in Washington.
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Those gestures preserve a memory. But a statue is not a solution.
A monument cannot stop the next bullet. A proclamation cannot lower America’s political temperature. Naming a building, courtyard, broadcast or day after someone does not by itself answer the question of what that person’s death should teach the living.
What changed with guns?
Kirk was killed in Utah, a state with permissive firearm laws. AP reported after the shooting that Utah generally allowed adults to carry firearms openly or concealed without a permit, although different rules applied in certain circumstances, including public colleges.
Yet one year later, I find no evidence that Kirk’s assassination produced a sweeping new federal gun-control law comparable to the national debate his death generated.
That deserves attention.
Americans do not have to agree about the Second Amendment to agree that political assassination cannot become an accepted risk of public service, journalism, activism or debate. The question should not simply be, “Which party gets blamed?” It should be: How do we keep people alive while preserving constitutional rights?
What changed with free speech?
Here, the legacy is more concrete.
Kansas enacted the Kansas Intellectual Rights and Knowledge Act—the KIRK Act—in 2026. The law invokes Kirk’s assassination and establishes protections concerning expressive activity at public postsecondary institutions, including political and ideological expression. Kansas also moved to recognize October 14 as Charlie Kirk Free Speech Day.
Kirk’s death also intensified a national argument over campus speech. A survey commissioned by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression found that half of surveyed students said they were less comfortable attending or hosting controversial campus events after his assassination.
Fox News has emphasized another part of Kirk’s legacy: the conservative students and activists he mentored are continuing his work. Those closest to him say Turning Point USA continues recruiting and developing young conservative voices. Reuters likewise reports that the organization has expanded its presence in American high schools and colleges since his death.
That is impact.
But growth of an organization is different from healing a nation.
How are Republicans, MAGA and conservatives handling opponents now?
The answer is not one-dimensional.
Some conservative figures say Kirk’s assassination made them more security-conscious while strengthening their determination to appear publicly. Turning Point continues organizing politically, and AP reports that Turning Point Action is expanding its infrastructure as it seeks influence in Republican politics heading toward 2028.
But America should resist turning Kirk’s murder into permission for either side to treat millions of political opponents as enemies.
Democrats should not be blamed collectively for the act of an accused assassin. Republicans should not be collectively defined by their most inflammatory voices either.
Political disagreement is not political violence.
And political violence cannot become an extension of political disagreement.
The Bible gives us a useful framework.
James 1:19 teaches us to be “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” Imagine applying that principle to political television, social media and Congress.
Matthew 5:9 says, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” Peacemaking does not mean abandoning convictions. It means refusing to dehumanize people who hold different ones.
And Proverbs 15:1 reminds us that “a soft answer turneth away wrath.” In an algorithm-driven culture that often rewards outrage, that ancient wisdom sounds remarkably modern.
The memorial America really needs
Charlie Kirk built his public identity around political argument. People agreed with him, opposed him, debated him, protested him and criticized him.
That is democracy.
Shooting him was not.
One year later, the most meaningful memorial would therefore be larger than a statue, television special, campus courtyard or commemorative day.
Let his death challenge universities to protect speakers and peaceful protesters.
Let it challenge conservatives to debate liberals without demonizing them.
Let it challenge liberals to debate conservatives without dehumanizing them.
Let it challenge Republicans, Democrats, MAGA activists, progressives, journalists, professors and students to reject assassination, threats and intimidation regardless of whose name is on the microphone.
And let America finally confront the uncomfortable intersection between political hatred, firearm violence and free expression without pretending that only one political tribe has responsibilities.
A year after Charlie Kirk died, America has memorialized the man.
The more important question is whether we have learned from the manner in which he died.
If his death only makes us louder, angrier and more divided, then we have built memorials without building a better country.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Edmond W. Davis is a social historian and one of the world’s top Tuskegee Airmen authorities. Davis is a media strategist and professor. Davis founded the country’s only National HBCU Black Wall Street Career Fest. A native of Philadelphia, PA, Davis is committed to cultural empowerment and educational equity through storytelling and civic engagement. In 2026, Davis was a grand marshal at the 38th Annual African American History Month Celebration Parade. His life is told in the award-winning 2023 short documentary ‘FROM GRIND TO GROWTH: The Edmond W. Davis Story. Davis played the courthouse jailroom deputy on the NBC TV miniseries Bluff City Law.
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