But with 16,000 people dying of gun violence in 2024 (excluding suicides), the problem is likely not going away anytime soon. Over 6,000 students and faculty signed a petition for Charlie Kirk not to speak at Utah Valley University. Though political violence is not new in the U.S., the level of awareness and almost immediate showing of the violence is a fairly new phenomenon. “The Charlie Kirk shooting is beyond horrific. “This afternoon, in addition to Charlie Kirk, there was a school shooting.