Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, whose father was murdered by extremists in 1984, has made a passionate plea for stronger background checks on US gun purchases.
Kerr on Friday spoke in a podcast by San Jose Mercury News sports columnist Tim Kawakami about the Warriors’ loss to Cleveland in the NBA Finals, then took the conversation into politics.
“Our government is insane,” for failing to pass gun control legislation, Kerr said.
Kerr’s father, Malcolm, was the president of the American University of Beirut. He was gunned down in the hallway outside his office in 1984 while his son was a freshman basketball standout at the University of Arizona.
“When 90 percent of our country wants background checks on gun purchases and we’ve got our Senate and our House not only voting it down, but using the Bill of Rights as a reason for people to have rights to carry these automatic weapons, and we’re getting people murdered every day at an alarming rate — I just have to get this off my chest — our government is insane,” Kerr said.
“We are insane,” the 50-year-old coach added.
Kerr’s call for arms control came two weeks after a terror attack at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, left 49 dead and 53 others wounded in the deadliest mass shooting in US history, a massacre that came the night before Kerr’s Warriors lost Game 5 of the NBA Finals on their way to squandering a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, the worst collapse in Finals history.
“What bugs me is this adherence to the right to bear arms,” Kerr said.
“That was back in 1776. People didn’t own automatic rifles,” he added.
“You had to have a musket in case the Redcoats were coming, the British were coming,” he said.
“The beautiful thing about the constitution is they left open amendments to change things, because things change over time,” Kerr said.
“I kind of think that our forefathers would not have OK’d automatic weapons to be sold to everybody if they existed back then. Let’s have some checks. It’s easier to get a gun than it is to get a driver’s license. It’s insane,” he said.
“As somebody who’s had a family member shot and killed, it devastates me every time I read about this stuff — like what happened in Orlando — and then it’s even more devastating to see the government just cowing to the NRA [National Rifle Association] and going to this totally outdated Bill of Rights, right to bear arms,” he added.
Kerr, who spent much of his youth overseas, called for political change to toss out those who back the NRA’s desire to avoid any limits on gun ownership.
“If you want to own a musket, fine, you know, but come on. The rest of the world thinks we’re insane. We are insane,” Kerr said.
“Until we vote these senators and congressmen and women out of office, the same thing is going to happen. And it’s infuriating,” he added.
Kerr wondered how US lawmakers might react if their family members were at greater risk of being slain in mass shootings.
“You wonder if any of these senators and congressmen and women who are so opposed to even holding a vote on not only the right to buy an automatic weapon, but just the background checks and the lists and all the stuff, how would they feel about this if their own child, their own mother, their own father, sister, brother, wife, husband was murdered. Mass murdered,” Kerr said.
“How many times do we have to go through this before our government actually does something about it?” he added.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two