also sidenote on kirk "just expressing his opinion";
first off, he was actively participating in a
funded environment of shills where it's often uncertain whether they mean what they say or not. there's a lot of money in right wing grifting like this. if you consume that media sphere, chances are the person you listen to doesn't actually mean what they say, except they have a vague sense of tribe.
secondly, on him being a poor schmuck not being allowed to share his opinion or whatever, this is what wiki notes on his Turning Point USA:
Kirk expanded the organization's influence through initiatives like the Professor Watchlist and School Board Watchlist, which sought to fire or silence professors for sharing opinions opposed by Turning Point.
mix that in with his position (again, authentically held or not) that random deaths by gun was completely acceptable in society. he wanted it possible to arbitrarily silence people, and found it acceptable if people got shot. he wanted people silenced and didn't care about people dying. this is literally a
figment of the status quo he wanted.
so, should he have been
shot? that's not my point. the point is that the appeal of protecting him from political silencing and/or gun violence runs completely contrary to his own positions (if the positions' victims are to be applied just reasonably equally; i will note, of course, that he actually wasn't hypocritical about it, because he essentially believed his affiliates should be immune from censorship and arbitrary violence. protections for me, consequences for thee). it rings thoroughly hollow. there's a reason most (non-tribe) outrage over this responds to it as general gun violence over structurally solving conflicts, or appeals to sympathize with his family. people understand what he stood for.
say that you don't want people randomly shot, sure. but don't defend his situation as though he's a
victim of getting shot and silenced. that's what he
pushed for. the whole "but totalitarianism" rings incredibly hollow because that's what he wanted.
and just a general appeal, for other discourses irt this event: you cannot paradox of tolerance this. sorry.
. And we still have to deal with Collective Shout. 
