Charlie Kirk shot dead at Utah university

[ChicagoBlue]

Most professional marksmen use scopes with crosshairs on long guns. The red dot tends to be on shorter, shoulder held assault weapons.

I’d doubt this kid is a “professional marksman,” but rather an enthusiast.

I only mentioned the red dot, as it is a relatively inexpensive way to improve one’s accuracy from a reasonable range, and is all the rage with enthusiasts today.

Of course, any professional marksman or sniper would have commensurate equipment. I’m doubting he was either.

As a Glock owner, I’m actually looking at the Meta Tactical MX-1 Conversion Kit for them. Handy bit of kit for very little money. The rail is also quite suitable for a red dot sight and has been used for target accuracy reaching 200 yards…WITH A HANDGUN!!

That’s all to express how easy (sub $300) it is to turn a handgun into a distinctly more stable platform for longer distance shooting, all within the law, and hide it in a backpack. In fact, there are tons of what are known as “truck guns” that are small, expandable weapons that fold out into a more operationally efficient package, and they can all be hidden in a backpack just the like one on the guy being flagged as the POI.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

I’d doubt this kid is a “professional marksman,” but rather an enthusiast.

I only mentioned the red dot, as it is a relatively inexpensive way to improve one’s accuracy from a reasonable range, and is all the rage with enthusiasts today.

Of course, any professional marksman or sniper would have commensurate equipment. I’m doubting he was either.

As a Glock owner, I’m actually looking at the Meta Tactical MX-1 Conversion Kit for them. Handy bit of kit for very little money. The rail is also quite suitable for a red dot sight and has been used for target accuracy reaching 200 yards…WITH A HANDGUN!!

I remember it coming up on a video that the idea of some sort of crack sniper is a bit of a myth from a skill perspective. They mentioned that most soldiers can be fairly quickly trained up to the level of accuracy required. The difficult part is the psychological element. Most people are not willing, even if subconsciously, to kill someone who's not threatening them from a distance without them ever knowing about it.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

What did he do? He pretty much just debated people in public and gave people a platform to oppose him. Isn't that a good thing?

He's been killed for speaking his views, that's it. He's never told people to go out and harm others. If others listen to him and agree with what he says about religion and politics, so what?

So his actions are maybe influencing people to hold more conservative views? That's it. What's the difference between that and influencing people to hold more liberal views?

I dont know what these "actions" are that you speak of regarding this fella.

How much hatred can you spew, just because you feel like you’re in a “safe space” created for you by Trump and the MAGA Cult, before you step over the line with someone, or some group?

For instance, is it OK to scream at an Asian questioner using the term “Chink”? Does it make it better if half the audience cheers your racist screed?

Kirk was of the “If I talk faster and louder than you, and you ignore the hypocrisy of my words, because I’m in my safe space surrounded by fans, then I’m going to sound smarter and cooler than you and gain popularity, which means MONEY!”

He is a FORMALLY UNEDUCATED POLITICAL HACK from my village who went to a bang average High School and a Community College. He received no degree or certification of educational achievement and started his conservative action at 18. He was given an “honorary Doctorate” by Liberty University! I’ll leave you to find out what that means and how little it should mean.

He is a Tommy Robinson type in a scrubbed conservative costume, in that he became what he is for opening his mouth on a topic. His fortuitous timing in gaining some public and media attraction is all down to the MAGA Cult, and his part in basically trying for recruit youngsters into it, because it’s mainly a bunch of old farts who don’t like their lot in life, blame “The Deep State,” and think Trump actually does “tell it like it is,” as opposed to “telling it like it suits me and lines my pockets.”

Most of them are too stupid now, and will be too stupid when it’s over, to know they’ve been had, but they’ll tell you they’re FOR whatever it is, even through they couldn’t EXPLAIN what “it” is if you gave them $1M to do it!!!

There is a reason that the foundational base of MAGA is the uneducated white male, with the mindset of “Get Some!” Charlie Kirk knew this and tried to exploit it, and their kids and kin, into his political (read: personally self-aggrandizing money making) machine.

He has the intellect of Ben Shapiro’s little toe, who, in turn, has the intellect of Sam Harris’s little toe!

 

[ChicagoBlue]

I remember it coming up on a video that the idea of some sort of crack sniper is a bit of a myth from a skill perspective. They mentioned that most soldiers can be fairly quickly trained up to the level of accuracy required. The difficult part is the psychological element. Most people are not willing, even if subconsciously, to kill someone who's not threatening them from a distance without them ever knowing about it.

Exactly. However, as in all things, the elite are simply different from the trained.

It’s one thing to know you have life changing power in your hands. It’s a completely separate thing to plan and execute an assassination, knowing what that means to the target and the aftermath for the shooter.

A very simple, albeit pale, comparison from my own life is MS Flight Simulator. The screen representation of “flying” a 747 or whatever into the most difficult airports in the world in the most difficult of situations in the world is simple when you know you can tap a button, freeze the program, and go and eat your beans on toast because your Mum just shouted up the stairs that it’s Tea Time! However, put you in an actual 800,000lb 747-400, knowing you have to wrestle that beast onto 10,000 feet of concrete 150ft wide, while slowing from Mach .85 to about 160mph…with 400 passengers’ lives in your little sweaty paws… is a wholly different kettle of fish.

My Flight Surgeon was a brain surgeon. He gave it up because he eventually couldn’t stand the stress of knowing that he literally had the lives of half a dozen real people in his hands every day!

The ability to PHYSICALLY perform any task is completely overshadowed for most people by the realization of the mental capability to perform that task, the more consequential that task becomes.

Taking a life, in a conscious, calculated manner, takes a special kind of steel. It is upto each individual to say whether that is special in a positive or a deeply negative way. In recent days, we have seen graphic examples of each on our screens, from an outspoken racist and a quiet lady on her way home to drones chasing soldiers on the battlefield and blowing them up.

I think, for most people, the line is “It’s him or me” or “I’ll do whatever it takes to protect my family.” For others, sadly, it’s “I don’t like you!” That’s where society has to also draw a very distinct line, too.

Protect yourself at all times, knowing that often the safest course of action is to avoid the necessity for action.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

I didn't miss any point. Will MLK leave a bigger legacy and have more historical impact? One million percent. However, his response was to someone asking if it was the biggest political assassination since those times.

The word “political” was missing from the post I saw.

I was replying to say that it may well be and not to consider it the murder of someone irrelevant, because he wasn't, he had influence. Who else in USA in modern times has been assassination in a public place like that in front of large crowd there for them because they're very well known and have millions of followers around the world?

His relevance was to a disaffected sliver of society and he will be forgotten when the next racist mouthpiece assumes the vacuum.

The guy had a big reach, especially with young people. Nobody is saying he will go down as a legendary figure, but it's still the murder of a young man with a pretty large influence in a public setting just because someone didn't agree with his words. All he did was debate people on political views.

Reach? If that means “was known,” I’d again point to the sliver. Because you are in that sliver doesn’t elevate him in any way.

He was an uneducated blowhard feeding off disaffection to line his own pockets.

The original point wasn't comparing his character to MLK. It was making the comparison of the assassination of a political figure with some influence. The guy I replied to missed the point by comparing their characters, I didn't miss the point.

Again, I didn’t see “political” in the post I saw, but I’ll admit to not reading every post.

The point is, while his assassination is big news, his impact is not. He has, in effect, been martyred. His status will be elevated accordingly by some people. I will not miss him or his ilk, even if that is not any kind threshold for violent death.

 

[The blue phantom]

A draft letter going around the Republican side of congress about a statue for him in Washington.

Theve lost their fuckin minds.

 

[BlueHammer85]

And that's the big problem with social media. Or brainwashing as I prefer to call it. Say what you like, it doesn't have to be true, as long as it fits into the narrative that you are pushing. The indoctrinated will lap it up. There's no checks and balances, just fake news if you get caught out.

Yep, it appealed to so many mainly youngsters as it was so direct and challenging instantly, often titled ‘Lib gets owned’ or ‘Kirk destroys this woke person’ , some edited so it looks like the person telling the question is clueless on reply. It was well crafted and is a big reason the MAGA base has grown.

 

[inchy14]

Family is important, let's all work hard to make the country better, free speech is important, let's be harsher on criminals, religion as a tool to help people (I am not religious, but I like the idea). I don't know all his ideas, I think most here don't by the sounds of it(don't see people here that actually watched a lot of his videos).

For me, you can like him or hate him, I didn't particularly care about him until today, but it was quite eye-opening for me to see some people cheering his death. That's a line I would never cross.

So you can’t then. Thanks.

 

[VOOMER]

What can I say?

At the time of his death, or in and around, Dr Martin Luther King Jr. was White America's most hated man (75% unfavourable) with many thinking he would bring race riots to America.

You tell me, then...

Charlie Kirk was either a justified, or acceptable murder?

 

[VOOMER]

We live in a culture of blame, Mex! We work too hard, have little help in resources for problems, all while there's money for wars on foreign lands, destabilising those countries and forcing those citizens to spill in other lands.

It's those lands that are blaming the homeless citizens for using the little resources that are left.

Division for a reason.

All while the billionaires are safe from the fray.

Those who have the real power want a world where no human has a sense of cultural, national, theological, or civic self.

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

The guy that was almost beaten to death by a Right wing hate mob on Jan 6:

 

[inchy14]

Tbf Netanyahu has killed more innocent civilians than those three put together.

Exactly. And why am I not surprised that he lists a group of Muslims before a fucking war criminal with tens of thousands of deaths on his hands.

 

[VOOMER]

There was a survey done in 2017 that estimated there were just short of 900 million civilian firearms in the world and that almost 400 million were in the USA. It’s estimated there are 121 guns for every 100 people living there.

Which means there numbers of fairly low.

 

[VOOMER]

He shouldn't ever been in the clink, though. You don't solve deep mental health issues with arrest, jail time and release. It's treatment they need.

Brown Jr. had been arrested 14 times and his family begged the authorities for mental health intervention.

It's hard not to say 'it's his fault', but it's not just him. The city, the state and the US gov are all complicit and one shouldn't ignore that.

There is no effective infact no even a token mental health service in most of the world.

 

[VOOMER]

If only there were a correlation between that ratio and the drastically high number of mass shootings in the country, maybe such a correlation would spur the legislators into action...

Fortunately there isn't.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

I’ll just leave that right here and thank my lucky stars none of my black pilot friends ever got their hands on this racist POS. Or, any of my female pilot friends, one of whom I’m flying with today and whose husband was a Marine…and they BOTH abhor this chump.

And, for those interested in this uneducated fool, Harper College is where High School grads who can’t get into an actual university go to try to gin up their educational profile so they might be able to get in in year 3 of 4…if they graduate with a 2 yr Associates Degree, which Kirk couldn’t even accomplish!

Not even graduating from Harper, and not graduating and going on to university, even a Christian Conservative one (of which there are many), tells you both what he achieved in H.S. AND what he achieved as an adult in Community College….NADA, ZIP, ZILCH!

And, given the racial melting pot that is Harper, I’d venture they’re embarrassed the world knows he went there…and he’d get his ass kicked on a daily basis if he spewed his rhetoric there today!

 

[happy_blue_apple]

A draft letter going around the Republican side of congress about a statue for him in Washington.

Theve lost their fuckin minds.

Indeed but that kind of reflects the world we live in. It's not really about the statue. It's now everything that happens has to be met with a bigger reaction for people to appear to be doing something good.

George Floyd got a statue and he was a scum bag that held a gun to a pregnant ladies stomach during a house robbery. He was a lifelong criminal that also fathered kids with 4 women and chose a life of crime and terrorising women rather than being a dad. He offered nothing decent to society. The reality is if we built statues for every criminal worldwide that died during an arrest because they can't be decent citizens, you wouldn't be able to move for them .

Same for building statues for everyone that dies because they had a voice listened to by many, no matter how unnecessary their death was.

The moral of the story is we should stop making people out to be something they weren't, just because they met an unfortunate and unnecessary death.

But as I say, that's the world we live in. Every person trying to outdo each other to be the most righteous for their cause.

 

[Tugay One Cup]

As much as I feel sorry for his kids, there's a benefit to his supporters getting an unflinching look at what gun violence actually looks like.

It's not something that only happens in bad neighbourhoods or a number on a spreadsheet or a reporter stood outside a school retelling events whilst sparing details.

It's a person who is going about their business one second and the next he's got a massive fucking hole in his neck pissing out blood in front of countless helpless onlookers all panicking and wondering if they're next.

This is the reality for countless Americans and it is absurd that so many of those sheltered from directly witnessing the brutality of it will fight tooth and nail to maintain the circumstances that facilitate these events.

Although I feel like his absence from the planet will be a net positive, his vile words and actions are now frozen in time. Would have been nice to hear if he thinks all of this was still "worth it."

 

[Bigga]

Way too late for that now, my personal opinion is that people who murder like that all have a screw loose but they still fry.

He can't be that big of a twat can he? His family covering for his cuntishnesh?

I don't know what you're aiming to say here. He's recorded at attacking his own sister, so his family that have been asking for him to get help for his severe schizophrenia means they're "covering for his cuntishness"?

I respect genuine dialogue, but your insistence that he needs jailing instead of the help he should have been getting is veering into divisive terrority, when this unfortunate tragedy could and should have been avoided by the Gov funding the needs for these individuals.

I wonder what it will take for you to understand that funding the police and expanding more prisons over tackling the homelessness crisis and offering mental health treatment does not make the US a safer place.

 

[Dubai Blue]

But as I say, that's the world we live in. Every person trying to outdo each other to be the most righteous for their cause.

I'm not sure righteousness even comes into it. The primary thought is "This will REALLY piss the other side off, let's do it!" If it doesn't meet that bar, they're not interested.