[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur3XpysljdA&w=560&h=315]
In the wake of his 900th victory Monday night, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim used the pulpit to speak out against automatic weapons and in favor of gun control.
The comments were obviously motivated by Friday’s tragedy in Newtown, Conn., that left 26 people dead, including 20 children.
“This will probably offend some people,’’ Boeheim said in a transcript from the Post-Standard. “If we in this country as Americans cannot get the people that represent us to do something about firearms, we are a sad, sad society. I’m a hunter. I’ve hunted. I’m not talking about rifles. That’s fine. If one person in this world; the NRA president, anybody, can tell me why we need assault weapons with 30 shots in the thing. This is our fault. This is my fault and your fault. All of your faults if we don’t get out and do something about this.’’
He added: “I saw one guy, a representative I was very proud of, somebody in his state had just come out and said ‘We need more guns. We don’t need less. We need to give teachers guns so they can shoot people.’ Yeah, that’s really good thinking to do that.
“If we can’t get this thing done, I’m with the mayor of New York City, if we can’t get this thing done, I don’t know what kind of country we have,’’ he continued. “This is about us. This isn’t about the President or those other people down there (in Washington D.C.). We need to make them understand somehow that this needs to get figured out. Real quick. Not six months from now.’’
Boeheim joined the 900-win club with No. 3 Syracuse’s 72-68 win over Detroit. He joined Coach K (936 wins) and Bob Knight (902).
