Steve Kerr hits out at the gun lobby after Brown University shooting: “it doesn’t matter if you’re Democrat or Republican”

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr used the spotlight of an NBA game to highlight a national tragedy that unfolded just hours earlier on a college campus.

In response to a mass shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, Kerr again called on Americans to confront gun violence and push for meaningful reforms to firearms laws.

On December 13, during the tense final weeks of the fall semester, a gunman opened fire at a study session in Brown’s engineering building. Two students were killed and nine others were wounded in the attack, striking fear into one of the nation’s most prestigious academic communities. Most remaining classes and exams were subsequently cancelled as the university entered a period of mourning and recovery.

Before Sunday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Kerr took a moment to speak from the heart about the episode and its broader implications. He described the pain of yet another mass shooting in America as familiar and senseless, urging sports fans and citizens alike not to avert their eyes from the pattern of recurring violence.

“These shootings continue to happen... we have to think about it”

“With what happened last night at Brown, it’s just a reminder to me that these shootings continue to happen, and there is something we can do about them, he said. ”The loss that all of the people involved [Saturday] night, the loss that they’re feeling, it’s exactly the same loss as all the Parkland families, and every other mass shooting.

“Nobody asked me about it today. I didn’t expect anybody to ask me. I doubt we’re gonna do a moment of silence out there because it’s human nature just to not want to deal with this stuff. And it’s human nature just to think, ‘This is so horrible. Let’s not even think about it.’ But we have to think about it.”

“It doesn’t matter if you’re Democrat or Republican”

“The vast majority of gun owners in this country are responsible, law-abiding citizens,” Kerr added. “They have every right to own a gun. But it’s on us to decide if we actually want to take action as a country, as citizens. We know, we know that there are common-sense measures we can take that will save people’s lives. And I just want people out there — it doesn’t matter if you’re Democrat or Republican, or gun owner, non-gun owner — I just want people thinking, ‘What if it were my child? What if it were my brother or sister?’ Would you be willing to stand up to your representatives and say, ‘You know what? Enough. I’m not gonna vote for you unless you are going to stand up for gun violence prevention through common-sense laws that the vast majority of Americans agree on.’

“Are we just gonna continue to let the gun lobby run us over?”

“Or are we just gonna continue to let the gun lobby run us over and not do anything to protect each other, to protect our children, to protect our future. We have to make that decision.”

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