At a gun show in Utah, sadness that ‘one of our own’ is accused of killing Charlie Kirk

HURRICANE, Utah — Southern Utah gun owners and families who browsed a major gun show here this weekend were tormented by the allegation that one of their own had gunned down conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Some who milled around the traveling Crossroads of the West Gun Show feared that such a high-profile killing could lead to calls for stricter gun regulation, though others said it would never succeed specifically because armed Americans are so angry in this moment.

The show opened at Legacy Park three days after Kirk was killed at a college campus in Orem, Utah, and a day after authorities announced the arrest of 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who grew up not far from Hurricane.

“We’re embarrassed,” said David Martin, who said his family spends tens of thousands of dollars a year on guns and ammunition, and who had placed “Utah Militia” patches on a protective vest he wore — and on a vest the family Rottweiler sported. Guns are essential in the rural West, if only for safety against bears and mountain lions while camping, Martin said. But using them for political violence in such a community-oriented place is alarming to him.

“Utah, of all places,” he said.

“Every Utahn that I’ve spoken to is just sad,” Martin’s wife, Catrina, said. “It’s just heartbreaking that one of our own children did that.”

Who is Tyler Robinson? What we know about suspect in Charlie Kirk’s fatal shooting

‘It’s sad for all of America’

The Martins live in Hurricane — locals pronounce it HURR-uh-kihn — a desert gateway to Zion National Park. It’s about 14 miles northeast of Washington, the town near St. George where Robinson was raised.

“It’s sad for all America,” said David Mendoza, who lives in nearby Virgin and attended the gun show, where vendors sell a wide range of guns for recreation and self-defense, as well as T-shirts, ammo and other gear. “It was extremely bad that it happened here in Utah. Probably every household in the state of Utah has guns.”

People raised right are taught to handle guns and differences with respect, Mendoza said, and from what he has heard of Robinson’s family, that appears to have been the case in his home as well.

“I don’t understand,” he said.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox shared his constituents’ horror at the murder of a political activist who was on a college campus to debate his viewpoints. In comments after Robinson was arrested, the governor said he had prayed “that if this had to happen here that it wouldn’t be one of us — that somebody drove from another state, somebody came from another country.

“Sadly, that prayer was not answered the way I hoped for, just because I thought it would make it easier for us if we could just say, ‘Hey, we don’t do that here.’”

That it did happen in Utah, a state that many locals consider especially moral and family-oriented given the outsize influence of the Salt Lake City-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, suggested to some that families need to reassess their methods.

“What it really comes down to is the family unit — teaching our kids to be decent human beings and respect people,” said Brendon Bosshardt, who traveled to the gun show from his central Utah home in Redmond.

“It’s not the guns (that kill),” Bosshardt said. “It’s the jackasses behind them. We lack parenting.”

‘Nobody knows how to talk’ about their differences

John Wilhelm of St. George joined the hundreds attending the gun show in hopes of selling a bolt-action .30-06 caliber hunting rifle. At age 63, he no longer lugs the rifle into the field to chase elk. As it turned out, the rifle was the same make reportedly used by Kirk’s killer, a Mauser.

“Nobody bit,” Wilhelm said. “Nobody wants it.”

The assassination and other political violence are evidence that Americans needs to learn how to better address their differences, Wilhelm said.

“Nobody knows how to talk.” He said he hopes there’s not a backlash leading to gun restrictions, though he wouldn’t mind wider use of mental health evaluations.

Mendoza, who said he has “a ton of guns at my house,” also said he worries that the killing could inspire a backlash leading to gun control.

“It’s another nail in the coffin for the Second Amendment,” he said.

But Martin, the man in the “Utah Militia” vest, said he’s not worried about any moves to restrict gun rights.

“Not this time,” he said.

That’s because Kirk was beloved by so many gun owners, Martin said, and his death has riled them beyond the point where they could be suppressed.

“They’ve taken one of ours, and we’re done,” Martin said. Attempting to restrict guns now would ignite “a tinderbox,” he said.

Plans for funeral: Memorial service for Charlie Kirk to be held at State Farm Stadium on Sept. 21

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: At a Utah gun show, sadness about identity of Kirk shooting suspect