Lakers' LeBron James Calls for Changes to Gun Laws Following UNLV Shooting
Ahead of the semifinals of the NBA in-season tournament taking place in Las Vegas on Thursday, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James commented Wednesday on the fatal shooting on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV).
According to ESPN's Tim Bontemps, James lamented that more hasn't been done to make it more difficult to obtain guns in the United States:
"First of all, my condolences go to the families that lost loved ones, families and friends and everything. It just goes back to what I said before about guns in America. I think it's such a longer conversation, but we keep dealing with the same story, this same conversation every single time it happens, and it just continues to happen.
"The ability to get a gun, the ability to do these things over and over and over, and there's been no change is literally ridiculous. It makes no sense that we continue to lose innocent lives, on campuses, schools, at shopping markets and movie theaters and all type of stuff. It's ridiculous. The fact that we haven't changed anything—it's actually been easier to be able to own a firearm. ... It's stupid."
Per CNN, the UNLV shooting occurred Wednesday, resulting in three deaths and one person being hospitalized. The suspect also died.
CNN noted that Wednesday marked the 80th school shooting in the United States this year, prompting President Joe Biden to echo James' sentiments about gun control.
Biden called on Congress to "ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, pass a national red flag law, enact universal background checks, require the safe storage of guns, and advance other commonsense measures that will help stem the tide of gun violence."
While Wednesday's scheduled college basketball game between UNLV and Dayton was called off due to the shooting, the NBA is moving forward with its two games scheduled for Thursday night.
Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena will play host to a pair of NBA in-season tournament semifinal games with the Milwaukee Bucks facing the Indiana Pacers and James' Lakers taking on the New Orleans Pelicans.
The in-season tournament championship game will then be played in Las Vegas on Saturday with the winner of each semifinal competing for the crown.
