Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Liam Hendriks called for changes to U.S. gun laws when speaking with reporters on Monday following the mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, that left at least six people dead and more than 30 injured.
Hendriks, who was born in Australia but has spent the last 12 years playing in the major leagues, said he doesn’t think “enough is being done” to prevent mass shootings like the one in Highland Park.
“I read about it on the way here. It’s something that you never want to read, but unfortunately in this day in age it’s becoming all too commonplace,” Hendriks said. “I think the access to the weaponry that is being kind of used in these things is … Something needs to change. Something needs to be done. Something needs to happen because there’s way too many people losing their lives.”
“I don’t think enough is being done. I think there’s two sides, and the two sides need to meet somewhere in the middle and figure this out,” he continued. “Too many people are dying, and it’s no excuse to say, ‘I’m on this side or that side.’ At some point, things need to get done or else it’s getting to the point where civilization as you know it may be ending just to the fact there’s two drastically different sides. Something needs to change. Something needs to happen, and it needs to happen quick.”
White Sox closer Liam Hendriks calls for more gun control after another deadly mass shooting pic.twitter.com/8J4Iyh122p
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) July 4, 2022
The 33-year-old closer’s comments went viral on social media Monday night. He also said that he disagrees with how easy it is to purchase a gun, comparing the laws in the U.S. to those in Australia. Hendriks believes that “protection isn’t a good enough reason to get a gun.”
“I had to take a driving test when I was over here. I won’t have to take a test if I want to get a gun. That’s stupid. Whoever thought that was a great idea was an idiot,” he said.
“As an Australian, we dealt with it as a country back in the day when we had a mass shooting. When we had a mass shooting, the government came in and said we can’t do this, we’re gonna do a buy-back program and so we’re gonna buy back the guns for a fair price and all this,” Hendriks continued. “And all of a sudden, suicide rates dropped drastically, gun-related homicides dropped infinitely and it’s something that has pretty much kept on. You can get access to guns in Australia but there’s a lot more stipulations on it and protection isn’t a good enough reason to get a gun.”
“I had to take a driving test when I [came] over [to America]. I won’t have to take a test if I want to get a gun. That’s stupid. Whoever thought that was a great idea is an idiot.” – Liam Hendriks pic.twitter.com/iErEJWfPzg
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) July 4, 2022
• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.
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