National Football League stars are calling for gun law reform following the tragic mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas yesterday, where a lone gunman opened fire inside Ross Elementary School, killing 19 children and two adults. In the aftermath of the shooting, NFL stars such as Patrick Mahomes, JJ Watt, and Davante Adams took to social media to share their thoughts on the senseless violence.
Mahomes, quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs and a Texas native, was one of the first to share his thoughts on the tragedy. “Has to stop man…” Mahomes tweeted. “Prayers to all the families in Texas.”
Chiefs wide receiver Daurice Fountain echoed the same sentiment as his quarterback. “An elementary school, These are babies dawg….wtf” Fountain tweeted. Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams also expressed his sentiment on Twitter. “Gonna be hard going to sleep thinking about all the parents who are without their kids tonight” Adams tweeted. “This shit insane what type of person would do something like that! Praying for all the families affected by this tragedy. Something gotta change man!!”
The string of tweets shared by athletes was in part inspired by the monologue given by Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr before their Game 4 matchup in Dallas against Luka Doncic and the Mavericks on Tuesday for the Western Conference Championship. Kerr called for massive gun regulations to be implemented across the country.
“There’s 50 senators right now who refuse to vote on H.R. 8 which is a background check rule that the house passed a couple of years ago and it’s been sitting there for two years. There’s a reason they won’t vote on it – to hold onto power. So I ask you, Mitch McConnell, I ask all of you senators who refuse to do anything about the violence … I ask you, are you going to put your own desire for power ahead of the lives of our children and our elderly and our church goers? Because that’s what it looks like.”
Arizona Cardinals defensive end JJ Watt, a former member of the Houston Texans, expressed his grief over the tragedy. “Devastated doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Watt tweeted. “Horrifying horrifying news out of Texas.”
Dallas Cowboys defensive end Demacus Lawerence, one of the most outspoken athletes on political issues, gave his statement following the events. “Praying for those who affected by todays horrific school shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde Texas,” Lawrence tweeted. “Another day, another senseless act of Gun Violence. I will continue to use my platform to build up better leaders because our leadership today has let us down time & time again!!”