Steve Kerr calls Trump administration’s handling of gun violence ‘disgusting’

PORTLAND, Ore. — In the wake of another mass shooting, at a high school outside Miami, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr spoke out passionately Wednesday night about finding a way to curtail gun violence in the United States.

“Nothing has been done,” Kerr said. “It doesn’t seem to matter to our government that children are being shot to death day after day in schools. It doesn’t matter that people are being shot at a concert, in a movie theater.”

Gun violence is a deeply personal issue to Kerr, whose father was assassinated in 1984 by two gunmen outside his office in Beirut. Kerr has addressed the topic repeatedly, including after October’s mass shooting in Las Vegas and after November’s mass shooting in rural Texas.

In the aftermath of Wednesday’s news that an armed young man barged into his former high school in Parkland, Fla., reportedly killing at least 17 people, Kerr retweeted nearly a dozen tweets about gun violence.

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018, in Denver. The Nuggets won 115-108. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr in the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018, in Denver. The Nuggets won 115-108. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) Photo: David Zalubowski, Associated Press Photo: David Zalubowski, Associated Press Image 1 of / 80 Caption Close Steve Kerr calls Trump administration’s handling of gun violence ‘disgusting’ 1 / 80 Back to Gallery

“It’s not enough, apparently, to move our leadership, our government, people that are running this country, to actually do anything,” Kerr said. “That’s demoralizing. But we can do something about it. We can vote people in who actually have the courage to protect people’s lives and not just bow down to the NRA because they’ve financed their campaign for them.”

Kerr has often been critical of President Donald Trump. Within the past year, he has taken issue with Trump for his divisive campaign rhetoric; his executive order banning immigrants from majority-Muslim countries from traveling to the United States; his profane comments about NFL players who protest racial inequality during the national anthem, and his decision to pull the Warriors’ invitation to celebrate the team’s NBA title at the White House.

Perhaps no issue, however, holds more personal weight for Kerr than gun violence.

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“Hopefully we’ll find enough people, first of all, to vote good people in, but hopefully we can find enough people with courage to help our citizens remain safe and focus on the real safety issues,” Kerr said. “Not building some stupid wall for billions of dollars that has nothing to do with our safety, but actually protecting us from what truly is dangerous, which is maniacs with semi-automatic weapons just slaughtering our children. It’s disgusting.”

Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @Con_Chron