Steve Kerr Makes Passionate Plea For Gun Control Legislation

Steve Kerr was on San Jose Mercury News reporter Tim Kawakami’s podcast on Friday and at one point made a passionate plea for the passage of gun control legislation in the United States.

The Golden State Warriors head coach asked if he could speak about the issue and Kawakmi opened the floor to him. Here’s what he had 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 of Rights as a reason for people to have rights to carry these automatic weapons, and we’re getting people murdered every day at an alarming rate. I just have to get this off my chest. Our government is insane. We are insane. And what bugs me is this adherence to the right to bear arms, you know. That was back in 1776. People didn’t own automatic rifles. You had to have a musket in case the Redcoats were coming. The British were coming. And the beautiful thing about the Constitution is they left open amendments to change things because things change over time. I kind of think that our forefathers would not have OK’d automatic weapons to be sold to everybody if they existed back then. Let’s have some checks. It’s easier to get a gun than it is to get a driver’s license. It’s insane. And as somebody who’s had a family member shot and killed, it 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in Orlando — and then it’s even more devastating to see the government just cowing to the NRA and going to this totally outdated Bill of Rights, right to bear arms. If you want to own a musket, fine, you know, but come on. The rest of the world thinks we’re insane. We are insane. And under we vote these senators and congressmen and women out of office, the same thing’s gonna happen. And it’s infuriating and I had to get that off my chest."

Kerr’s father was murdered in 1984 when he was serving as the president of the American University of Beirut. Malcolm Kerr was gunned down by members of the group Islamic Jihad.

Whether you believe in gun control or not, Kerr’s statement was incredibly strong and it comes from someone who has suffered directly as a result of gun violence. But knowing how this issue plays to the masses I’m sure a lot of criticism is headed his way.