Another mass shooting, another impassioned plea for gun control from Steve Kerr.
The Golden State Warriors coach spoke for about three minutes unprompted on Sunday night before their 136-131 loss against the Portland Trail Blazers and again called for gun reform in the wake of a mass shooting at Brown University.
"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. 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."
Speaking pregame, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr addresses gun violence following this weekend's shooting at Brown University."We know there are common-sense measures we can take that will save people's lives. … I just want people thinking 'What if it were my child?'"More:pic.twitter.com/E2n9z62jYZ
— Sam Gordon (@BySamGordon)December 15, 2025
A shooting took place at Brown University in Rhode Island on Saturday afternoon that left two people dead and nine others injured,according to The New York Times. An investigation is still ongoing.Authorities released a manwho they had detained on Sunday night, and are still searching for the alleged gunman.
According to theGun Violence Archive, that was the 389th mass shootings in the United States so far this year. There have been others since.
Gun control is something that Kerr has been a strong advocate of for years. He'sspoken out about plenty of other mass shootingsin the United States in the past,hosted a town hallabout the issue,drawn support for groups founded by studentswho survived other mass shootings, and more. Kerr's father, Malcolm, was shot and killed during a terrorist attack in Beirut in 1984 when he was a student at Arizona.
"The vast majority of gun owners in this country are responsible, law-abiding citizens," Kerr said. "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.'
"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."
Kerr wasn't alone in the sports world, either. USC women's basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb, who played at Brown, spoke out on Saturday night.
"It's the guns," she said after theTrojans' loss to No. 1 UConn. "We're the only country that lives this way."
This is far from the first time that Kerr has addressed this issue, and mass shootings continue to occur in the United States. Based on recent history, it likely won't be the last time we hear from Kerr about gun control, either.
While Kerr knows how easy it would be to just give up and ignore the problem, especially since it seems like nothing is getting better, he ended his plea on Sunday night with a simple solution.
"Don't just look the other way, even though that's human nature and I understand it," Kerr said. "Think about it. Think about, do you want something done? Do you want your child to go to school terrified every day? Or do you want to actually take action?
"Because that's what a democracy is about. Where we demand that our representatives protect us. And that option is there. So, we can either just do what we're continuing to do and let these things happen or make some demands. And so, as you're thinking about this today, think about, what if it were your own family member?"
