By: Nina Cray
The Golden State Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr, was very emotional prior to his team’s game on Tuesday, May 24th, after giving a moving plea for gun reform following the shooting of a Texas elementary school – not even a month after the Buffalo, N.Y. supermarket shooting.
Kerr made it very clear that he did not want to talk about basketball before the game, instead discussing the gun violence and condemning failed political action on fundamental gun laws.
“I’m so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there,” said Kerr. “I’m tired of the moments of silence. Enough.”
Kerr went on to call out senators who have failed to act on H.R. 8, a Bipartisan Background Checks Act that was approved by the House over a year ago.
The Senate first received the act in March of 2021, and despite 90% of the public currently supporting required universal background checks, there were no further updates to its status.
Kerr expressed the outrage America feels at yet another group of innocent lives taken for no apparent reason to gun violence.
Fifty senators were called out in Kerr’s speech – he said instead of putting H.R. 8 to a vote, despite what the American people want, they would rather hold on to their own power.
“It’s pathetic,” Kerr said. “I’ve had enough.”
Sources:
Chappell, Bill. May 25th, 2022. NPR. “NBA coach Steve Kerr calls out 50 senators on bipartisan gun background check law.” <https://www.npr.org/2022/05/25/1101169867/uvalde-shooting-steve-kerr-coach-golden-state-warriors-nba-playoffs>