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145 CEOs Urge Senate To Act On Gun Violence

Published September 12, 2019 at 4:37 PM EDT

Community members visit a makeshift memorial outside a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, in the wake of a mass shooting at the store in August.

The chief executives of many prominent U.S. companies sent a letter to U.S. senators on Thursday urging them to pass new federal gun control laws.

“Gun violence in America is not inevitable; it’s preventable,” the letter from 145 CEOs reads. “There are steps Congress can, and must, take to prevent and reduce gun violence.”

Addressed to members of the Senate, the letter is signed by executives from a wide range of companies, from Airbnb and Twitter to Bain Capital, Levi Strauss & Co. and Royal Caribbean Cruises.

The CEOs urge the Senate to pass bills requiring background checks on all gun sales and supporting Extreme Risk Protection Order laws, also known as “red flag” laws. Public polling shows wide support for Extreme Risk laws, including among gun owners.

The letter is the latest move by corporations weighing in on the debate over gun regulations. In the wake of a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, Walmart wrote its own letter to Congress suggesting a debate on a ban on so-called “assault weapons” and announcing the company would no longer sell certain ammunition. Walmart, grocery chain Kroger and other companies have also publicly asked customers not to carry firearms openly in their stores, though the companies have stopped short of banning all guns.

In February, the Democratically controlled U.S. House passed a bill expanding background checks to all gun sales, including those among private sellers. The Senate, controlled by Republicans, has yet to take it up.

The House is also expected to pass a bill providing incentives and support for state-level Extreme Risk laws. The House Judiciary Committee discussed the bill, one of several gun-related measures it is debating, earlier this week.

As pressure to take up gun regulations swirls around Washington — from Democrats, public polling showing wide support for Extreme Risk laws and now some business leaders — the biggest unknown remains President Donald Trump.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has said that he does not plan to present a gun bill that does not have the clear backing of the president. And the president has yet to make his views clear.

Guns & America is a public media reporting project on the role of guns in American life.