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Charlie Kirk is the Founder and President of Turning Point USA, the largest and fastest growing conservative youth activist organization in the country with over 250,000 student members, over 150 full-time staff, and a presence on over 2,000 high school and college campuses nationwide. Charlie is also the Chairman of Students for Trump, which aims to activate one million new college voters on campuses in battleground states in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election. His social media reaches over 100 million people per month and according to Axios, he is one of the "top 10 most engaged" Twitter handles in the world. He is also the host of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” which regularly ranks among the top news shows on Apple podcast charts.
Charlie Kirk Debates Gun Control and Immigration with Kansas State University Students in Manhattan
Charlie Kirk engages in direct conversations with Kansas State University students on gun control and immigration policy during a campus event in Manhattan, Kansas. In an unscripted exchange, Kirk challenges students advocating for gun confiscation by questioning consistency in safety arguments, referencing car fatalities and other causes of death. He also debates immigration policy with a student whose parents immigrated from Peru, exploring the tension between border security and the American immigration system. The exchanges showcase Kirk's approach to campus dialogue, emphasizing individual liberty, the Second Amendment, and the principle that government should prioritize its own citizens.
During a campus event at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, Charlie Kirk moved into the crowd for unscripted conversations with students. Two local students, both natives of Manhattan, Kansas, approached Kirk to discuss gun violence and gun control. One student expressed disappointment at seeing people she grew up with attending Kirk's event, characterizing his views as "very conservative" and stating that when someone goes against her rights and beliefs, she considers them a bad person.
When asked about gun violence, the students initially claimed that thousands of kids die every year from gun violence. Kirk corrected this assertion, clarifying that approximately 30,000 total people die annually from gun violence, with 23,000 of those being suicides and the majority of the remainder being urban violence. He challenged the students to remain consistent in their logic, asking whether they would support banning all pistols to prevent gang violence in cities like Kansas City, Chicago, and Houston.
The Gun Confiscation Debate
Both students agreed they would support removing all guns from Americans. When Kirk pressed them on how they would accomplish confiscating the approximately 380 million guns currently in the country, they initially struggled to provide an answer beyond background checks. Kirk pointed out that background checks wouldn't address guns already owned, prompting one student to suggest incentives like buyback programs and confiscation.
The students confirmed they would support repealing the Second Amendment because "children are dying." Kirk then challenged their consistency by pointing out that approximately 55,000 people die from auto fatalities each year—nearly double the gun deaths—and asked whether they would support banning cars as well. The students resisted this comparison, claiming cars were "different," but Kirk pressed the point that if saving lives was the paramount concern, cars would have to go as well.
Liberty Versus Safety
Kirk explained his philosophical framework: "When you have liberty, you have bad things that happen." He used driving as an example, noting that society accepts 55,000 deaths per year from drunk driving and traffic accidents because people value the freedom to drive. Similarly, he argued, guns provide significant benefits including protection against home invasion.
One student countered that nine times out of ten, if you have a gun in your home, it's more likely to be used against you. Kirk clarified that this statistic primarily applies to people with suicidal ideation and mental health problems, and that when the gun is "used against you," the data is only referencing self-harm, not other means.
Kirk emphasized that guns serve as an equalizer, particularly for young women on campus. When he learned both students were Kansas State students, he suggested they should own guns for protection, noting that "knife and pepper spray won't do anything if a guy really wants to attack you." The students confirmed they do not own guns.
The Consistency Challenge
Kirk pressed the students to remain consistent in their logic: if the goal is to stop killing and ensure safety, then many things beyond guns would need to be banned, including baseball bats and knives, which also cause numerous deaths. He argued that America's government wasn't built on the principle of safety but on liberty.
When one student asked why the government isn't built on safety and protecting people, Kirk explained that this isn't part of the American "birth certificate." The founding principle is that citizens can do as they see fit, which will sometimes result in amazing things and sometimes in negative things. When negative things happen, Americans rally as a people, but that's part of the human condition.
Armed Guards in Schools
When Kirk suggested that school shootings could be prevented with school resource officers, the students initially resisted the idea of armed guards in every school. Kirk then revealed that one of the students had been in a school shooting during her senior year of high school, and an armed guard had saved her life. She confirmed this was true.
Kirk asked whether, given that an armed guard saved her life, having more armed guards in schools would be beneficial. She agreed it would be. Kirk then highlighted what he sees as an inconsistency in American priorities: "We protect our money with guns, we protect our airplanes with guns, we protect our sporting events with guns, but we don't protect our kids with guns." When he asked the students if they thought there should be armed guards at the football game that night, they said no, despite their stated concerns about gun violence.
College Degree Requirements and Certification
After the gun control discussion, Kirk moved to another question about college degrees and state certification requirements. A student asked about situations where state agencies require college degrees for jobs that don't necessarily need them, using funeral directors as an example.
Kirk agreed this is a problem and suggested that state agencies should no longer require college degrees for many certifications. He noted this reform would need to come through the state legislature and governor, though he added that Kansas has "a terrible governor," prompting laughter from the crowd.
Immigration Policy and National Priorities
Kirk then engaged with a student whose parents immigrated from Peru. The student, who identified as having indigenous ties to the Indian region of Peru rather than Lima, asked Kirk about immigration and whether immigrants can contribute to America. Kirk readily agreed they can, citing Elon Musk as an example.
When asked whether immigrants could potentially harm a nation, Kirk agreed that the border situation is "pretty bad" right now. The student shared that his parents had to wait ten years to get a visa to come to America to work, and expressed his belief that the system needs improvement to allow immigrants who aren't criminals or bad people to come work in the United States.
Government's Primary Obligation
Kirk then asked a fundamental question: Should American citizens be prioritized ahead of immigrants? The student responded that it's "a bit of a mixed bag." Kirk pressed the issue, asking whether the government exists first to protect and provide for its own people before non-citizens.
The student attempted to question the definition of an American citizen. Kirk provided a clear answer: passport holders and those born in America. He asked again whether the government should put American citizens first above non-citizens. The student responded "yes and no," beginning to explain the "no" by discussing how many Americans have diverse ancestries from different nations.
Kirk acknowledged the student's perspective but wanted to ensure his core point was understood: that government has a primary obligation to its own citizens. The student acknowledged he understood Kirk's position, and they concluded their exchange respectfully.
