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After a passionate pregame press conference Tuesday in the wake of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr discussed the reaction he received and what he believes people should do within their own communities.
Kerr said gun violence needs to be considered more of a public health issue than a political one and stressed the importance of getting involved on Thursday.
“So what I’m asking people to do is to get involved in their local communities,” he said. “There’s lots of amazing gun safety, gun prevention groups out there. Call your senators. Call your representatives. It’s all very helpful. But again, this is—I’ve got lots of friends who are Democrats. I’ve got lots of friends who are Republicans. All I know is they all want gun violence to go away.
“We just need to get our public servants to respond to what we all want. I don’t know how to do that, but we’re going to try.”
The Warriors held a moment of silence ahead of Thursday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks and informed fans where they can turn in the effort to create more sensible gun laws:
Golden State Warriors @warriors
Our hearts are with the families and friends of the 21 victims who were tragically killed at Robb Elementary School.<br><br>To learn more about how you can support sensible gun laws in America, please visit <a href=”https://t.co/ph56QTvK6w”>https://t.co/ph56QTvK6w</a>, <a href=”https://t.co/RIry1Yco4s”>https://t.co/RIry1Yco4s</a>, or <a href=”https://t.co/4arwEYO89s”>https://t.co/4arwEYO89s</a>. <a href=”https://t.co/9SHcVaSgDF”>pic.twitter.com/9SHcVaSgDF</a>
Kerr is a public advocate for stronger gun control measures, which is a topic that is personal to him since his father, Malcolm Kerr, was assassinated by gunmen when the Warriors head coach was in college.
Following Tuesday’s shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School, Kerr pleaded for more gun control and also criticized U.S. Senators:
“There’s 50 senators right now who refuse to vote on H.R.8, which is a background check rule that the House passed a couple years ago. It’s been sitting there for two years. And there’s a reason they won’t vote on it. To hold on to power. So I ask you, Mitch McConnell, I ask all of you senators who refuse to do anything about the violence and school shootings and supermarket shootings. I ask you, are you going to put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children and our elderly and our churchgoers? Because that’s what it looks like. It’s what we do every week. So I’m fed up. I’ve had enough. We’re going to play the game tonight, but I want every person here, every person listening to this, to think about your own child or grandchild or mother or father or sister, brother. How would you feel if this happened to you today? We can’t get numb to this.”
He also mentioned the May 14 shooting in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, when a gunman killed 10 people at a Tops Friendly Markets store.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said the attack was a racist hate crime.
Kerr’s call for action comes when there have now been more mass shootings than days in 2022 in the United States.
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