NBA coach's powerful message on US gun violence
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has sent a powerful message after the tragic Florida school shooting on Thursday (AEDT) that claimed at least 17 lives.
The highly successful coach, whose own father was assassinated in 1984, has long been a vocal critic of the US government's handling of gun violence.
With each unnecessary massacre, Kerr's voice grows louder.
The seven-time NBA champion as a player, and two-time champion as a coach knows a thing or two about leadership, and he was showing the best of it following his team's recent victory.
“Nothing has been done,” Kerr said. “It doesn’t seem to matter to our government that children are being shot to death day after day in schools. It doesn’t matter that people are being shot at a concert, in a movie theatre.
"It’s not enough, apparently, to move our leadership, our government, people that are running this country, to actually do anything.
“That’s demoralising. But we can do something about it.
"We can vote people in who actually have the courage to protect people’s lives and not just bow down to the NRA because they’ve financed their campaign for them.”
“Hopefully we’ll find enough people, first of all, to vote good people in, but hopefully we can find enough people with courage to help our citizens remain safe and focus on the real safety issues.
“Not building some stupid wall for billions of dollars that has nothing to do with our safety, but actually protecting us from what truly is dangerous, which is maniacs with semi-automatic weapons just slaughtering our children. It’s disgusting.”
Watch his full response in the video at the top of the page.
Kerr later took to social media to engage with the debate once again, this time retweeting a number of strong messages on the topic.
These are the messages Kerr shared.
The leadership of the @NRA has an agenda and it ain’t got a damn thing to do with gun rights. It’s 100% about gun sales. This Republican Congress is trading the lives of children for campaign contributions.
We will win. This will not go on forever.— Jason Kander (@JasonKander) February 15, 2018
The math is simple: The more guns we have—the less children, fathers, sisters, and grandparents we have come home each week.
Vote for candidates who support #GunControlNow— John Pavlovitz (@johnpavlovitz) February 15, 2018
Another tragic school shooting. 18 just this year! Hey Congress, your thoughts and prayers aren't working. Try something else you cowards.
— Albert Brooks (@AlbertBrooks) February 14, 2018
In the rest of the world, there have been 18 school shootings in the last twenty years. In the U.S., there have been 18 school shootings since January 1--35 days.
— Jeff Greenfield (@greenfield64) February 14, 2018
Today is a good day to double-check if you are registered to vote in the elections later this year.
And fix it if you’re not.
Today is a good day to remember that you have some power to change how this country works.
And then
When the time comes
Do it.— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) February 14, 2018
Meanwhile, UFC fighter Alexey Oleynik was caught up in the horrendous incident in Florida, as his daughter, Polina, attends the school.
Luckily for the family, Polina was not injured in the incident.
Olynik posted a video of his daughter being interviewed by a local TV crew in the wake of the shooting on Twitter Wednesday afternoon.
“No comment, terrible moments of parents,” Olynik wrote.
— Alexey Oleynik (@oleynikufc) February 14, 2018