Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr gets it, regarding to the gun violence epidemic that currently plagues our country. There’s a reason he is so passionate about this topic, and he’s absolutely right in his convictions.
His father Malcolm, a university professor specializing in the Middle East and the Arab world, was assassinated by gunmen in Beirut, Lebanon in 1984. Therefore, gun violence has always hit close to home for him.
Steve Kerr on today’s tragic shooting in Uvalde, Texas. pic.twitter.com/lsJ8RzPcmC
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) May 24, 2022
Tuesday brought another mass shooting, and well, when you live in America, it’s sadly part of everyday life. This time it was an elementary school in Texas, where the death toll is not official, and rising by the hour.
At his press conference today, ahead of the Warriors next NBA Playoff game, Kerr didn’t get into basketball. He talked about something much bigger than hoops.
Steve Kerr called out the 50 Senators, currently in Washington D.C. who are holding the rest of us hostage by refusing to bring the bill calling for universal background checks (something polls show about 90% of Americans want) to the floor for a vote.
The bill has already passed in the House of Representatives. Kerr specifically called out Mitch McConnell, the longtime former Senate Majority Leader who takes pride in being known as the Grim Reaper, due to his ability to consistently kill legislation.
“When are we going to do something? I’m tired,” Kerr yelled in his pregame presser ahead of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals.
“Since we left shootaround, 14 children were killed 400 miles from here, and a teacher. In the last 10 days, we’ve had elderly Black people killed in a supermarket in Buffalo, we’ve had Asian churchgoers killed in Southern California, now we have children murdered at school.”
The final death toll in Uvalde was 19 children and two adults.
“I’m so tired of getting up here and offering condolences to the devastated families that are out there. I’m so tired,” Kerr said. “Excuse me. I’m sorry. I’m tired of the moments of silence. Enough.
“There’s 50 senators right now who refuse to vote on HR8, which is a background check rule that the House passed a couple years ago. It’s been sitting there for two years. There’s a reason they won’t vote on it: to hold onto power.
“I ask you, Mitch McConnell, all of you senators who refuse to do anything about the violence, school shootings, 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. That’s what we do every week.”
“We can’t get numb to this,” Steve Kerr continued.
“We can’t sit here and just read about it and go, well, let’s have a moment of silence. Go Dubs. C’mon, Mavs, let’s go. That’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to go play a basketball game.
“Fifty senators in Washington are going to hold us hostage. Do you realize that 90 percent of Americans, regardless of political party, want background checks, universal background checks? Ninety percent of us.”
“I want every person here, every person listening to this, to think about your own child or grandchild, mother or father, sister, brother. How would you feel if this happened to you today?
“We are being held hostage by 50 senators in Washington who refuse to even put it to a vote, despite what we the American people want.
“They won’t vote on it because they want to hold onto their own power. It’s pathetic. I’ve had enough.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and he co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast, part of Edge of the Crowd Network. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.