After a passport snafu prevented him from traveling with the Warriors, Steve Kerr arrived in Hong Kong with his wife.
Prior to boarding, Kerr became aware of the deadly Las Vegas mass shooting by home grown terrorist Stephen Paddock. Upon landing in Hong Kong, and seeing pictures of the death and destruction from Paddock’s attack, Kerr emphasized the need for further gun control.
I was watching CNN this morning while working out in the hotel and some of the victim’s families were speaking, getting interviewed, crying. I’ve been there. I know exactly how they feel, having lost my dad to gun violence. You can’t explain the pain that this brings.
So I hope we can do more than just offer victims our thoughts and prayers. We’ve been offering victims thoughts and prayers for three decades. We need to offer them something else. And I know a lot of people have been saying don’t politicize this, don’t disrespect the victims by calling for gun control.
But I’d argue that if we’d had any respect for the victims, we would have done something 20 years ago, 30 years ago, when Columbine happened or Sandy Hook or Aurora. Name any one of these mass shootings that happens pretty much every week in our country. If we had any respect for our citizens we would’ve had discussions before. So, for people to say don’t have that discussion now, now is not the time. When the hell is the time? That’s what I want to know.
Before NRA advocates call for Kerr’s termination based on his comments, he further explains that anybody that wants to purchase a gun should be put through extensive training and there should be a lenthgy process before they are able to touch a gun.
“I believe in the Second Amendment. I believe people should be able to protect themselves, should be able to own a handgun or a hunting rifle. But I also believe that mentally ill people shouldn’t be able to buy guns. I believe there should be serious training for anybody buying a gun. I believe there should be universal background checks. It should be a process, so we can keep people safe.”