On Dec. 6, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James spoke out against the country’s ongoing gun control issue amid reports of an active shooter situation on the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) campus. James lamented the frequency of deadly mass violence he feels is tied to lax firearm regulations, Fox News reports.
The NBA’s marquee player was in Las Vegas for the league’s inaugural in-season tournament when he addressed the media.
“It just goes back to what I
said before about guns in America. It’s such a long conversation, but we’re the only ones who keep dealing with this same story, same conversation every single time it happens, and it continues to happen,” James said. “The ability to get a gun. The ability to do these things over and over, and there’s been no change is literally ridiculous. It makes no sense we continue to lose innocent lives on campuses, in schools, at shopping markets, in theaters and all types of stuff. It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous.”The four-time champion seemed to echo the thoughts of many who have called for gun reform in pointing out the lack of urgency to find solutions in the face of unthinkable tragedy and violence.
“And the fact we haven’t changed anything. It’s actually been a lot easier actually to be able to own a firearm. … It’s stupid,” he continued.
The suspected shooter was identified as a 67-year-old college professor who was allegedly denied a position
at the university before the attack, The Associated Press reports. He would later be identified as Anthony Polito of Henderson, Nevada. Polito killed three people and wounded another before being fatally shot by law enforcement, the outlet reports. It was nearly seven years ago that a gunman wreaked havoc on the Las Vegas Strip when he killed 60 people and wounded more than 400 at a country music festival in 2017. It is still regarded as the deadliest shooting in modern American history.There have been over 600 mass killings in the U.S. in 2023, ABC News reports, while school shootings have hit an all-time high for the second year in a row.
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