Dan Lanning uses platform to address gun violence after win vs. Utah

Oregon got a statement win against Utah on Saturday, being another piece to the Pac-12 Championship puzzle. However, a different topic of conversation was brought up by Ducks head coach Dan Lanning at his press conference. He decided to use his platform to address gun violence.

Lanning’s comments are in light of a mass shooting in Lewiston, ME, a city over 3,200 miles away from Eugene. He discussed being a father of three and made it clear his comments were not a political stance.

“I want to take a quick second to say something that important to our players,” Dan Lanning said. “And I wouldn’t normally hop into this, and I want everybody to understand this is not political in any way. But as a Dad of three kids — a 13-year-old, a 12-year-old, and a ten-year-old — you know, I see at times what’s going on in this country and I think that I have a platform that is worth saying something about it.

“What I’ll say right now is, where is the respect for human life? You know I think there’s a lot more to this. I mean people could say ‘Let’s make it about guns and let’s make it about mental health.’ You know why can’t we use a commonsense approach and make it about everything? And this doesn’t mean taking stance, but our players told me this spring that gun violence was really important to them.

“I just want to ask everybody, what are we doing about it? We can’t continue to sit around and expect different results. Don’t think I’m sitting here talking about gun control, don’t think I’m talking about mental health. I’m talking about all of it. We’ve got a lot of smart people in this country, how about we do something to fix it?

“I know this means a lot to our players. It certainly means something to me when I send my three kids to school and expect to see them come home. I think enough is enough at some point. At some point, we have to look at ourselves and take a hard look in the mirror and figure out where can we support the people that are having problems with mental health in this country, where can we support making sure that people that shouldn’t have weapons don’t have weapons and support our law enforcement ot where they can help handle situations when situations arise.

“So again, I’m not trying to be political, but I do care about human life and I do care about human decency. And I’m hoping that at some point, we can take a stand and do something about it. Thank you guys.”

Lanning did take time to talk about the Utah game as well, with his comment occurring at the end of the presser. Oregon’s next game will be on Nov. 4 with the Cal Golden Bears coming to town for another Pac-12 Showdown.