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Steve Kerr condemns senators for inaction on weapons

Apparently angry and shaken, Steve Kerr on Tuesday night condemned senators, especially Republican leader Mitch McConnell, for failing to act on gun law, hours after a gunman killed 18 children and at least one adult at an elementary school in Uwalde. west texas.

“When are we going to do something?” Kerr, the head coach of the Golden State Warriors, shouted at a press conference before his team faced the Dallas Mavericks in the fourth game of the NBA Western Conference Finals. The teams played in Dallas, more than 300 miles from the massacre site.

“I ask you, Mitch McConnell, I ask all of you, senators who refuse to do anything about violence and shootings at school and supermarkets – I ask you if you will put your own desire for power before the lives of our children and our elderly and our church people? “he said.” Because that’s what it looks like.

Kerr, who declined to discuss basketball during his remarks, also referred to a mass shooting 10 days ago at a Buffalo grocery store where racist gunmen were targeted primarily at blacks, as well as an attack on Asian parishioners at a church in California. which has been investigated as a hate crime. Both have happened in the last two weeks.

He also mentioned HR8, a bill that would expand past checks on gun purchases. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed it in 2019, but the measure will have to clear the threshold of 60 votes of filibusters in the evenly divided Senate. Republicans, many backed by the National Rifle Association, have successfully thwarted several attempts to impose restrictions on gun access.

“We are hostages to 50 senators in Washington who refuse to even put him to the vote, despite what we, the American people, want,” Kerr said. “They will not vote for this because they want to retain their own power. It is a pity.” The coach hit the accent table several times during his application.

Kerr made his remarks shortly before President Joe Biden addressed the nation on Tuesday night. “As a nation, we must ask ourselves when, for God’s sake, we will face the arms lobby. When, for God’s sake, will we do what we all know we need to do? ”The president said.

Golden State Warriors’ official Twitter and YouTube accounts posted a video of Kerr’s emotional plea for real action against gun violence. Venture capitalist Joe Luckab is the majority owner of the team.

Kerr’s father, Malcolm Kerr, was killed by gunmen in Lebanon in 1984 while he was president of the American University in Beirut. The coach and former NBA player has often assessed social issues and has been an advocate of gun control.

“We can’t go numb about that,” Kerr said Tuesday night.