In just over a week, 34 people were killed in mass shootings in the United States. Gilroy, California; El Paso, Texas; and Dayton, Ohio, were the cities where the shootings occurred, and Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr believe the authorities are not doing enough about gun control. Kerr even said that one day someone could walk into a basketball gym and shoot NBA players.
“When you have 97 percent of the people in the country who want universal background checks and the Senate, not only, not won’t pass it, won’t even vote on it because [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell won’t allow them to vote on it because the NRA has bought him off, then you got problems,” Kerr said. “I think that’s the issue. We have to have elected leaders who are willing to value human life over their own jobs and their contributions from the NRA.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who never sticks to just basketball, was asked about last week's mass shooting in our country. He weighed in on what our elected leaders like Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should do to react. pic.twitter.com/3hZ31MXmJP
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) August 7, 2019
Popovich was also angry about the shootings, and he shares Kerr’s opinion on the matter.
“It’d be a lot better if the people in power got off their asses and got something done … in a lot of different areas,” Popovich said. “I think they’re on vacation right now. Nothing going on, so they just take a break,” Popovich continued. “They’ll come back and fix the gun situation, the environment, inequality, pay, they’ll fix all that when they come back, I’m sure.”
USA coach Gregg Popovich on recent mass killings in America: “It’d be a lot better if people in power got off their a**es and got something done.” pic.twitter.com/EBksh5GZTR
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) August 6, 2019
When it comes to political issues and social inequality, Kerr and Popovich are just two of many vocal sports figures who are trying to do the right thing. In fact, Kerr’s father, who was a diplomat, was assassinated in Lebanon in 1984, so Kerr is personally impacted by gun violence.
“I think about it all the time. Somebody could walk in the door in the gym right now and start spraying us with an AR-15,” Kerr said. “They could. It might happen because we’re all vulnerable, whether we go to a concert, a church, the mall or go to the movie theater or a school. It’s up to us as Americans to demand change from the gutless leadership that continues to allow this to happen and continues to somehow claim the Second Amendment is doing its job.”
