Former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has never afraid to tell us how he really feels on myriad of topics pertaining to life.
A divisive figure, the eight-year NFL veteran has taken on everything from marriage equality to the perception of a machismo culture within the league.
True to form, the controversial former special teams standout took to social media on Wednesday to respond to the horrific shooting that took place on the campus of UCLA in Southern California.
“Thanks, gun nuts and @NRA. Just. Thanks. You do so much for the world. So. F****ng. Much. Harm,” Kluwe tweeted. ” It is empirically proven that gun control leads to less gun deaths (Australia, Europe, Japan).”
Gunman Mainak Sarkar opened fire at the Southern California campus on Wednesday morning, killing a professor before turning the gun on himself. CNN is reporting that Sarkar had a kill list that included another woman that was later found dead.
The absurd amount of gun violence in the United States, on school campuses in particular, does lend some credence to Kluwe’s stance here.
As most of you already know, gun-related violence in the United States is much more prevalent than in other first-world nations.
According to an American Journal of Medicine study from earlier this year, Americans are 10 times more likely to be killed by guns than people in other developed nations.
Though, it’s important to note that Wednesday’s shooting took place on a gun-free campus in a state with universal background checks. Blaming a lack of gun control on the senseless violence could very well be seen as drawing a premature conclusion based on a preconceived ideology.
What we do know is that there should be a healthy debate about the societal issue of gun violence in the United States. This is happening far too often for any of us to be comfortable with. In that, Kluwe’s frustration is justified.