Very troubling times - LeBron James alarmed by gun violence
LeBron James said his reaction to the latest deadly shooting spree was "what the hell?" and "not again".
LeBron James says these are "scary" and "troubling times" in the United States after the deadly Thousand Oaks gun massacre. Twelve people were killed when Ian Long opened fire in a country music bar in the city in Ventura County, California last week.
"Enough"
Los Angeles Lakers and Atlanta Hawks players wore black t-shirts with 'Enough' on the front to honour the victims ahead of their NBA clash on Sunday. Lakers superstar James spoke out about the latest shooting spree after the game.
Asked what his reaction to the massacre was, he said: "Probably the same that went through everybody's mind: 'Not again.' Or: 'Wow. What the hell?' Probably some more explicit terms that I won't say right here. It's just how do we clean up this...It all comes back to this gun situation that we have in America and gun violence. I don't want to go into that right now, but I can do it at a later point. We know that these people are just being able to go and buy guns and do things with them, and innocent lives are being taken at young ages. Young ages."
Worrying times for parents
He added: "When I was younger we didn't really have to worry about gun violence too much. I mean, if you had a problem with somebody you kind of fist it out and move on. And now, it's like people are like shooting it out and don't even have a problem with somebody. They just got a problem with themselves or a problem with the situation that they're in. It's just very troubling times for everyone and for parents. It's just how can you be comfortable with sending your kids to school or sending them to church or sending them to the movies or sending them to the mall? Those are kind of like the great havens when I was growing up: school, church, go to the mall, go to a sporting event. That was like heaven. You know? And it's kind of scary at this point and time."