Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr talks about the Texas shooting at a news conference in Dallas, Texas, USA, in this still image from a video obtained from social media on May 24, 2022.
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr declined to talk about basketball at a pre-game news conference on Tuesday and instead called for tougher gun control after at least 18 children and an adult were killed in a Texas school shooting.
Authorities say an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at an elementary school in South Texas, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) west of San Antonio, apparently before being killed by police officers.
A seemingly shaky Kerr, who was a lawyer for strict gun law, said he would not discuss the Warriors’ Eastern Conference final game against the Dallas Mavericks.
“Any basketball question doesn’t matter …,” Kerr told reporters. “In the last 10 days, we have killed older blacks in a supermarket in Buffalo, we have killed Asian churches in Southern California.
“Children have been killed in our school now. When are we going to do something? I am tired of being here to offer my condolences to the bereaved families. “
Kerr also criticized lawmakers for obstructing efforts to advance gun control.
Steve Kerr in today’s tragic shooting in Uvalde, Texas. pic.twitter.com/lsJ8RzPcmC
– Golden State Warriors (Warriors) May 24, 2022
Small, rural, often Republican-led states where gun ownership is widespread have a disproportionate influence in the U.S. Senate, where a 100-seat chamber requires a majority of 60 votes to pass most legislation.
“Do you understand that 90% of Americans, regardless of political party, want a background check, a universal background check? 90% of us, “says Kerr.
“We have been held hostage by 50 senators in Washington who refuse to vote for it despite what the American people want,” he said. They will not vote because they want to retain power. “
U.S. President Joe Biden has called on Congress to check new backgrounds for gun buyers and ban military-style “attack” weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines.
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers has also called for change.
“These are children and we are hurting their school,” he said on Twitter. “Importantly‘ this is the school ’where it is considered the safest!
“There just has to be change!”
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