DETROIT — An outspoken advocate of gun control, Warriors coach Steve Kerr weighed in Friday before Golden State tipped off against the Pistons on the verdict in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who brought an AR-15 to a Black Lives Matter protest and opened firing, killing two and wounding one more.
Rittenhouse, now 18, argued that he fired in self defense, and on Friday, a jury ruled in his favor, absolving him of all charges. Kerr said he wasn’t shocked by the verdict but that it was nonetheless concerning.
“The fact that we are seemingly okaying a teenager’s right to take an AR-15 into an area where there’s civil unrest, that’s really scary and concerning,” Kerr said. “But this is where we are with gun laws. This is why we have to have safer gun laws in place, to protect ourselves, to protect each other.
“It wasn’t a shocking verdict. But one that poses a great risk going forward if we continue to go down this path of open carry and states determining that people can just carry — even underage people and weapons of war — this is America. We’re treading down a dangerous path.”
Kerr’s father, Malcolm, was shot and killed in 1984 when he was working as the president of the American University of Beirut, in Lebanon. Kerr was 19 years old at the time. Ever since, he has advocated for stronger gun laws.
Source: www.mercurynews.com