Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera says it’s time to have serious conversations about gun safety following the shooting of rookie running back Brian Robinson Jr. on Sunday.
Robinson was wounded shortly before 6 p.m. on the 1000 block of H Street Northeast in Washington. His injuries are non-life threatening.
Rivera says that Robinson was out getting a meal and this was “probably wrong place, wrong time.”
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The coach added the team’s response was anger and concern for their teammate.
“This continues to be a nationwide epidemic, you know, gun violence. And I think we really got to start getting to the point where we are talking about gun safety. We can’t make this a partisan issue. This has to be something that everybody has to work on together,” Rivera said.
Rivera added he thinks it’s about community awareness and supporting elected officials.
“There’s too much infighting as far as that’s concerned, and the real truth of the matter is, you know, people are dying unnecessarily, and it’s crazy how we, as one of the most advanced societies in the world, continue to have this issue.”
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Rivera didn’t discourage anyone from owning a firearm.
“If you’re going to own a handgun, then it should be about education. Knowing how to properly secure it so it doesn’t get stolen, how it’s properly secured so the wrong people don’t use it. I know when you go for a hunting license, you have to take classes, so I think that gun safety is what it’s about,” he said.
Rivera, who wore an orange T-shirt for ending gun violence, said there is currently no timeline for Robinson to return to the team but that he is “doing well.”
The investigation into what led to the shooting is ongoing.
