Editor's note: This article was originally published in The Surveyor, YouGov America's weekly email newsletter. It has been revised for publication here. Subscribe to The Surveyor for regular updates on YouGov's polling.
The shooting death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk this week has sparked a national debate about political violence — and YouGov has been polling regularly to find out what Americans are thinking. News is still coming in about alleged shooter Tyler Robinson, but here are some of the takeaways from YouGov's polling so far:
Some Americans are more worried about political violence than others
Just 6% of Americans say political violence is not much of a problem (5%) or not a problem (1%). 87% say it is a problem, with a majority (59% of U.S. adults) saying political violence is a very big problem and 28% calling it somewhat of a problem.
Not everyone is worried about political violence to the same degree, however. Americans 65 and older are more likely to say political violence is a very big problem than are adults under 30 (69% vs. 50%). Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say political violence is a very big problem (67% vs. 58%). Even among groups where fewer people say political violence is a big problem, though, very few people say it's not a problem — those groups just have more people saying it's somewhat of a problem or who aren't sure.
But YouGov has asked this question multiple times since 2022, and found some noticeable changes in opinion. For one thing, while Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say political violence is a very big problem in September 2025, in the wake of Kirk's shooting, the reverse has been true when YouGov has asked this question after attacks on Democratic political figures. How concerned Americans are about political violence is related to some degree to whether someone from their side or from the other side is the most recent to be attacked.
Since YouGov started asking this question in 2022, older Americans have consistently expressed more concern about political violence than younger Americans have — regardless of which attack was in the news at the time of each poll.
But the shares of different age groups who say political violence is a very big problem have tended to go up and down in sync. Kirk, who died at age 31, was a well-known figure among younger adults, and more adults under 30 say political violence is a very big problem now than said so after past attacks — but concern is also up among older Americans.
How many Americans say violence can be justified
Part of the discourse after Kirk's death has concerned comments on social media from some left-leaning figures celebrating Kirk's death. Others, especially on the right, have called such rhetoric unacceptable, and have made varying claims about how prevalent such feelings are on the left.
YouGov's polling shows that Americans overall are far more likely to say it's always or usually unacceptable to be happy about the death of a public figure they oppose, than they are to say this is acceptable (77% vs. 8%).
It is true that liberal Americans are more likely than conservatives to defend feeling joy about the deaths of political opponents. 16% of liberals say this is usually or always acceptable, including 24% of those who say their ideology is very liberal and 10% who say they are liberal but not very liberal. That compares to 4% of conservatives and 7% of moderates.
But even among the very liberal, the share who say it's unacceptable to feel joy about the deaths of political opponents outnumbers those who say it's acceptable by a ratio of more than 2 to 1 (56% vs. 24%).
Younger Americans are also about twice as likely as older Americans to defend feeling joy at political opponents' deaths, but even among this group most people say this is unacceptable.
Another question tells a similar story: whether Americans think political violence can ever be justified. Overall, most Americans say violence to achieve political goals is never justified (72%), while just 11% say it can be.
Younger and more liberal Americans are more likely than older or more conservative Americans to say political violence can sometimes be justified, but this remains a minority opinion among these groups. Among the very liberal, 25% say political violence can sometimes be justified and 55% say it can't; among adults under 30, 19% say it can be justified and 51% say it can't.
Young people and Democrats were also more likely to say political violence is sometimes acceptable whenYouGov asked this same question in June, in the wake of the assassination of Democratic politician Melissa Hortman.
But YouGov's polling doesn't suggest that young people or liberals are more pro-violence in general.
In a separate poll, YouGov asked Americans both about whether violence could ever be acceptable in order to achieve political goals, and whether violence could ever be acceptable in self-defense. Far more Americans say violence could be acceptable in self-defense than for political aims (65% vs. 10%).
But young Americans and liberals aren't more likely than other groups to say violence in self-defense can be justified like they are to say the same about political violence.
Many Americans disagree with Kirk's statement that the Second Amendment is worth 'some gun deaths'
Kirk's shooting death has drawn attention to comments he made in 2023, that "it’s worth [it] to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights." YouGov asked Americans about this argument, and found 30% of U.S. adults say protecting the Second Amendment is worth some gun deaths and 47% say it isn't.
Democrats overwhelmingly say the Second Amendment is not worth some gun deaths (10% say yes, 76% say no), while a majority of Republicans say it is (54% vs. 21%).
Americans overall are split about whether left-wing violence or right-wing violence is a bigger problem (31% vs. 33%). Liberals and conservatives have opposite views on this issue. Liberals overwhelmingly say right-wing violence is a bigger problem (4% vs. 75%), and conservatives overwhelmingly take the opposite position (73% vs. 6%).
See the results of these polls:
- Which is a bigger problem in America today?
- How big of a problem do you think political violence is in the U.S. today?
- Do you think it is ever justified for citizens to resort to violence in order to achieve political goals?
- Do you generally consider it to be acceptable or unacceptable for a person to be happy about the death of a public figure they oppose?
- Do you think that the shooting of political activist Charlie Kirk...?
- Do you think protecting the Second Amendment right to own guns is worth some gun deaths?
- At various times, there have been turning points in American politics, where things could have gone in a very different direction. At other times, things that seemed important turned out not to be significant. What does this moment feel more like to you?
- Do you think the current political climate makes politically motivated violence more or less likely than normal, or the same as normal?
- Compared to the rate of political violence in other wealthy countries, do you think the rate of political violence in the U.S. is...?
- How united or divided is the country at present?
- Before his death, how familiar were you with Charlie Kirk?
- Do you think it is ever justified for citizens to resort to violence in order to achieve political goals?
- Do you think it is ever justified for citizens to resort to violence in self-defense?
Methodology: One Daily Questions survey was conducted online on September 10, 2025. among 2,646 U.S. adults. A second was conducted September 11 among 4,028 U.S. adults. A third was conducted September 12 among 3,004 U.S. adults. The samples were weighted according to gender, age, race, education, U.S. census region, and political party. The margin of error for the first survey is approximately 2.5%; for the second it is approximately 3%; for the third it is approximately 2.5%.
Image: Getty (Sean Gladwell)
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