The chief executives of 145 companies have signed a letter calling on Senate lawmakers to pass legislation to curb gun violence, citing a series of recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; Chicago; Newport News, Virginia; Brooklyn, New York; and other communities.
The letter urges the Republican-controlled Senate to follow the House of Representatives in passing a measure to update the background check system. A bill that passed the Democrat-controlled House in February required federal background checks for all firearms sales and transfers.
The CEOs also called for strong red flag laws where courts could issue protection orders that allow law enforcement to intervene when a gun owner is considered a risk to themselves or others.
“Doing nothing about America’s gun violence crisis is simply unacceptable and it is time to stand with the American public on gun safety,” the letter says.
Signers include Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh, and Thrive Capital founder Joshua Kushner who is the brother of White House advisor Jared Kushner.
The CEOs of Apple, Google, Facebook, Walmart, and Goldman Sachs did not sign the letter. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has recently said government officials should “improve the framework” around gun control.
Walmart recently announced it was reducing sales of firearms and ammunition and was “respectfully requesting” customers not openly carry guns in its stores. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon urged, “our nation’s leaders to move forward and strengthen background checks and to remove weapons from those who have been determined to pose an imminent danger.”
On Wednesday, Senators Chris Murphy, Joe Manchin, and Pat Toomey held a phone call with President Donald Trump urging action on background checks.
“I want to be clear, the president did not make a commitment to support any particular bill or any particular thing, but he did strongly convey an interest in doing something meaningful, and something that we would be able to embrace and that could pass,” Toomey said.
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