Kerr on gun violence: 'Our government is insane, we are insane'

As many high-profile Americans have before him, Steve Kerr made an impassioned plea for sensible gun control on Friday.

Before his appearance on Bay Area News Group's Tim Kawakami's podcast came to an end, Kerr asked to address one final topic.

"When 90 percent of our country wants background checks on gun purchases, and we've got our senate and our house not only voting it down, but using the Bill of Rights as a reason for people to have rights to carry these automatic weapons, and we're getting people murdered every day at an alarming rate, I just have to get this off my chest," Kerr continued.

"Our government is insane. We are insane. What bugs me is this adherence to the right to bear arms. That was back in 1776, when people didn't own automatic rifles. You had to have a musket in case the Redcoats were coming. The British were coming. The beautiful thing about the constitution is they left open amendments to change things, because things change over time. I kind of think that our forefathers would not have OK'd automatic weapons to be sold to everybody if they existed back then. Let's have some checks. It's easier to get a gun than a driver's license, and it's insane."

Kerr, whose father (a professor at the American University of Beirut), was assassinated by two gunmen in 1984, also admitted his personal connection to advocating for gun control.

"As somebody who's had a family member shot and killed, it just devastates me every time I read about this stuff - what happened in Orlando - and then it's even more devastating to see the government just cowing to the N.R.A., and going to this totally outdated Bill of Rights to bear arms. If you want to own a musket, fine. But come on. The rest of the world thinks we're insane. We are insane. Until we vote these senators and congressman and women out of office, the same thing's going to happen. It's infuriating, and I had to get that off my chest."