Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr used an appearance on a local radio show to launch into an anti-NRA rant on gun control. His team recently suffered an NBA Finals loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“As a basketball coach, I’m not really, you know, I don’t often get political,” Mr. Kerr said last Friday while sitting down with Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group for the “TK Show.” “If you don’t mind, I just want to say 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 or Rights as a reason for people to have rights to carry these automatic weapons — we’re getting murdered every day at an alarming rate — I just have to get this off my chest.”
Mr. Kerr’s statements came in response to the June 12 Islamic terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 and wounded 53 others. The coach’s father was also assassinated by Iranian-backed Islamists in 1984 while teaching at the American University in Beirut.
“Let’s have some checks. It’s easier to get a gun than it is a driver’s license. And it’s insane. And as somebody who has had a family member shot and killed, it just 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in Orlando, and then it’s even more devastating to see the government just cowing to the NRA and going to this totally outdated Bill of Rights, right to bear arms, you know, if you want to own a musket, fine — but come on.”
Mr. Kawakami did not correct Mr. Kerr regarding the availability of automatic weapons in the U.S. Omar Mateen, 29, used a semi-automatic rifle during his attack on Pulse, a gay nightclub, earlier this month. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) has banned the importation of automatic weapons for civilian use since May 19, 1986.
Breitbart News noted Monday that California’s strict gun-control laws also failed to stop the December 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack, a murder-suicide at UCLA on June 1 and a slew of other murders throughout 2016.
“They say, ’Stick to what you know,’ for a reason. Play ball, Mr. Kerr,” responded an East Bay Times reader on Sunday.
“Kerr’s father was killed in Beirut by Islamic militants using a silenced weapon (heavily regulated in the U.S.) and [he] thinks that passing more gun laws in the U.S. will help. This coach and writer should be ashamed of their own ignorance,” added another.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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