In the wake of another week of gun violence in the United States, which saw 10 people killed in a school shooting in the state of Oregon, and a five-month-old girl killed in a drive-by in Cleveland, NBA star LeBron James has made an impassioned call for tighter gun control.
James was at home with his three children when news of young Aavielle Wakefield‘s death was reported; she was the third child under five to be killed in Cleveland since September 4 this year, with two young boys also falling victim to gun violence.
Following yesterday’s shooting, he spoke out, saying “there’s no room for guns” in America. In a post shared with his followers on social media, he wrote:
“Four kids under the age of five or six years old have been shot and killed or very badly injured. There’s no room for that. There’s no room for guns, first of all, but then for violence toward kids or anybody. I see the news go across my phone and I’m sitting there in front of my three kids, so it automatically just hit me. It’s not just in Cleveland, it’s the whole nation that goes through this as well. We all hurt from it.”
On the practicalities of gun control, he added:
“I know what I see. I know how I feel. Obviously you’re not going to be able to take every gun out. I don’t know how you can do that. There’s so many around now, today. But if there’s some stipulations behind it or some penalties, some big time penalties or rules or regulations about carrying firearms, legal or illegal, people will second-guess themselves.”
James has said that he believes social initiatives like his LeBron James Family Foundation help to curb violent behaviour by having a positive impact on the lives of young people:
“Part of the education program we’re doing is keeping those kids off the street and keeping their situations that’s maybe bad and turning them into good. I think what we’re doing is controlling some of the violence. Some of these kids might be in violent situations, violent areas or violent homes and we’re trying to keep them away from that.”
via NBA.Com
Photo: Jason Miller via Getty Images
Photo: Jason Miller via Getty Images
