Warriors coach Steve Kerr ‘sees hope’ for gun control in America despite rise in mass shootings

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr has spoken extensively on gun control and a desire for change in an opinion piece following mass shootings in both Louisville and Nashville. 

Amid widespread discussion on the Second Amendment, including provocative comments from Kerr’s former coach Gregg Popovich, the Warriors play-caller penned his thoughts broadly while also reflecting on his May 2022 speech on gun violence.

‘The only thing that’s ever going to change our gun laws in this country is if we have enough voters who are fed up and want to force change – for the safety of our children and communities,’ Kerr told sports non-profit, Laureus. 

‘The only way that happens is through conversation. Those conversations are now happening. I see hope.’

Kerr’s father was shot to death by terrorists in Beirut during 1984, in what has indisputably shaped his stance on the delicate discussion.

Legendary NBA coach Steve Kerr has consistently been in favor of further gun restrictions

‘I understand what people are going through when they lose a family member in these circumstances. Total heartbreak. Devastation.

‘Those are my first thoughts when I hear about another shooting. And then I feel anger. But despite it all, I see hope.’

Despite expressing his dismay at mass shootings throughout the years, including a suggestion the the Second Amendment ‘is leading to mass murder’, the left-leaning Kerr sees today’s youth as catalysts for change to the fabric of America. 

‘What’s happening nationwide is we are, perhaps unwittingly, growing a generation of people who are going to flip things on its head. In this country, we have a lot that we have to fix. 

‘The younger generation – they’re living that, suffering from it. But there are so many impressive young people, who are making it their business to seek change. Before long, those are the people who are going to be influencing and winning elections. 

‘Any type of societal change takes time. But I have an optimism that the younger generation will be the ones to make real change.’

Kerr has consistently made impassioned pleas for alterations to gun laws in America, and in turn, hammered republicans for not advocating a need for change. 

‘More than anything, we need to have senators and congressmen on the republican side who can run on a campaign of gun safety and gun violence prevention and still think they can win,’ Kerr said in January, via NBC Sports, after mass shootings in California’s Half Moon Bay and Monterey Park. 

Kerr’s father, Malcolm Kerr, was shot to death by terrorists in Beirut, Lebanon during 1984

‘As long as all those candidates think they can’t win their election if they support gun-violence prevention, gun-safety measures, common-sense laws, it’s been proven that most of those people are going to put their job and their power ahead of the lives of their fellow citizens.’

‘There’s a reason we don’t allow tanks in the streets,’ Kerr added. ‘There’s a reason we don’t allow automatic weapons. So, why did we draw the line at semiautomatic weapons? Those have been unbelievably deadly in most of these mass shootings. There’s no reason.’

Kerr has routinely pontificated on a range of social and political issues but has noticeably remained mum on human rights discussions regarding China — which according to a 2022 ESPN article, makes the NBA approximately  $5billion annually. 

The former Bulls star admitted to regretting his unsupportive stance – for which then-President Trump labeled him ‘weak’ and pathetic’ – when then-Houston GM, now Philadelphia president, Daryl Morey tweeted in support of pro-democracy Hong Kong protestors in 2019.

‘I handled it really poorly,’ Kerr told Candice Buckner in 2020. ‘I was frankly sort of tongue tied. I’m sitting there trying to figure out what I’m supposed to say to make sure I don’t put the league in jeopardy but also trying to find the right balance and I realize it was probably the one time over the years when I haven’t just spoken my heart and I sort of got caught in this political hail storm. 

‘It was very uncomfortable because it wasn’t a topic I was very comfortable with and the circumstances were really strange. ‘I would first of all back up Daryl,’ he added. ‘I would just say Daryl, has a right, as an American, to free speech. He can say anything he wants and we should support him in that and that’s the main message.’

Kerr has also chosen not to speak on issues relating to the inordinate gun murders in cities such as Chicago — where he played between 1993-1998 — and Philadelphia. According to a December 2022 Brown University study, young men in those cities’ worst neighborhoods are more likely to be shot and killed than those who fought on the bloodiest front-lines in Afghanistan and Iraq.

San Antonio coach Popovich angrily decried the Second Amendment prior to the Spurs’ final game of the NBA regular season in Dallas, after the mass murder of six – including three children – at a Nashville private Christian school by a 28-year-old transgender ex-student.

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich went on a nine-minute rant regarding gun control

‘They’re going to cloak all this stuff [in] the myth of the Second Amendment, the freedom,’ Popovich told reporters at the time. ‘You know, it’s just a myth. It’s a joke. It’s just a game they play. I mean, that’s freedom. 

‘Is it freedom for kids to go to school and try to socialize and try to learn and be scared to death that they might die that day?’

Popovich also critiqued the expulsion of Democrat Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson for their roles in the shocking scenes on the Tennessee House floor this month. Some labeled it an insurrection, while others described it as a protest.

Both Popovich and Kerr blasted the Trump Administration, with the latter describing America’s leadership as ‘gutless’ under No. 45 in light of the 2019 El Paso and Dayton mass shootings. 

‘I think about it all the time. Somebody could walk in the door in the gym right now and start spraying us with an AR-15,’ Kerr told reporters at the time. ‘They could. It might happen because we’re all vulnerable, whether we go to a concert, a church, the mall or go to the movie theater or a school.

‘The second amendment is about the right to defend yourself. The only thing that second amendment is doing is leading to mass murder right now. This is all just insanity.’ 

Kerr won three titles as a player with the Bulls before winning another two under Popovich