San Francisco Chronicle

Warriors beat:

Steve Kerr again bemoans a mass shooting.

- By Connor Letourneau Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr is growing increasing­ly tired of pregame moments of silence. Not because of whom they’re honoring, but because of why they need to be held.

“It’s devastatin­g for everybody,” Kerr said Thursday of Wednesday’s mass shooting at a Ventura County bar that left 13 people dead, including a sheriff ’s deputy and the shooter. “I know we’re going to have a moment of silence tonight. We had one last week, I think. We’re probably going to have one next week. That’s the reality until we do something about it. It’s beyond sad. It’s devastatin­g.”

Kerr, whose father was assassinat­ed in Beirut in 1984, has become a leading voice for gun control in the United States. After almost every mass shooting, he is asked for his thoughts. Over the past couple of years, as that question has become more frequent, Kerr’s responses have gone from impassione­d to borderline despondent.

Little more than a week ago, when asked about a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue that left 11 people dead, he said, “I just expect it now, and that’s the sad thing.”

Kerr read many of the stories Thursday detailing the chaotic scene that unfolded Wednesday night at Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, when Ian Long — a 28-year-old Marine Corps veteran who had served in Afghanista­n — reportedly shot the security guard at the entrance and then opened fire into the crowd.

Just like when he read about mass shootings in Las Vegas, rural Texas and Parkland, Fla., Kerr’s reaction was simple: How can our government allow this to continue to happen?

“I just feel devastated for the victims and their families,” Kerr said. “I read a lot about it today, and it’s just horrifying for the families involved and the young people who lost their lives. It’s devastatin­g for everybody.”

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