Andy Murray was scathing about the gun laws in America as he spoke movingly of his own experiences as a schoolboy in the Dunblane tragedy.
The three-time Grand Slam champion said the deaths of 19 children and two teachers in a shooting at a school in Texas had left him "angry" and "incredibly upset." Murray, 35, was an eight-year-old pupil at Dunblane Primary School in Scotland in March 1996, when 16 children and a teacher were murdered by gunman Thomas Hamilton.
The shooting in Uvalde on 24 May has provoked new calls for gun control measures in the United States. Yet senior Republicans have already expressed their opposition to tighter rules on gun ownership, such as background checks.
"I think there's been over 200 mass shootings in America this year and nothing changes," he said. "I can't understand that." Speaking to the BBC, he urged the US to now take a different approach.
"My feeling is that surely at some stage you do something different," he told the BBC. "You can't keep approaching the problem by buying more guns and having more guns in the country. I don't see how that solves it.
"I could be wrong. Let's maybe try something different and see if you get a different outcome." And the former British and world No 1, who has never been afraid to speak out on political issues, hasn't forgotten his own experiences as a youngster.
Recalling the Dunblane tragedy as a child, he added: "I heard something on the radio the other day and it was a child from that school. I experienced a similar thing when I was at Dunblane and a teacher coming out and waving at all of the children, telling them to go and hide under tables.
"And it was a kid telling exactly the same story about how she survived it. They were saying that they go through these drills, as
young children, at seven, eight years old. How? How is it normal that children should be having to go through drills, in case someone comes into a school with a gun?"
Murray's sentiments have been echoed by high-profile sports stars in the US, including Steve Kerr, coach of the the Golden State Warriors NBA side. "I don't get it - it's really, really upsetting and I hope they make some changes," added the Scot.
However, on Friday, former US president Donald Trump told the National Rifle Association's annual conference that decent Americans should be allowed firearms to defend themselves against "evil". And Texas senator Ted Cruz lay blame on Democrats and the media.
He accused them of seeking to "politicise" the shooting to "restrict the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens". The US Department of Justice says it will investigate the police response to the mass shooting.
Murray meanwhile, got his grass-court season underway on Monday with a straight sets win over Jurij Rodionov. He opted to miss the French Open this year in order to aid his preparation for Wimbledon.
