An Axios exclusive uncovered new information about 220 U.S. company CEOs who are demanding that our legislative branch pass gun laws. In a surprise move, these corporate leaders are so committed to gun control that they wrote a letter to the Senate saying “take immediate action.” It may be that in the absence of a functioning Republican Senate, corporations may step in and demand action for the greater good of the country.
The companies behind the CEO’s letter are national, covering each of the country’s 50 states. They included:
‘Levi Strauss & Co., Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lululemon, Lyft, Bain Capital, Bloomberg LP, Permanente Medical Group and Unilever U.S.’
Levi Strauss & Co partnered with a “gun control advocacy group Everytown” and decided to put their letter out after 10 people in Buffalo, New York who were merely grocery shopping were killed in a mass shooting and 19 fourth-graders were murdered in a Uvalde, Texas grammar school.
The letter goes beyond traditional corporations and included sports teams. For example, the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco Giants are both included in this groundbreaking approach to governing.
The CEO’s released their initial letter in 2019. But they revised it in 2022 and included “50 percent more initial signatories.”
Axios delved into what the letter did say. It called gun violence a “public health crisis:”
‘[A crisis] that devastates communities, and then highlights the economic impact.
‘Gun violence costs American taxpayers, employers and communities a staggering $280 billion per year. Employers lose $1.4 million every day in productivity and revenue, and costs associated with victims of gun violence. Communities that experience gun violence struggle to attract investment, create jobs, and see economic growth.’
But as importantly, there was much the letter did not include. Axios added that:
‘The letter doesn’t endorse any specific policy proposals, or make any new ones, perhaps illustrating how difficult it is to get broad agreement on anything beyond “do something.”‘
A recent ABC/Ipsos Poll showed that the mass shootings influenced a full 70 percent of Americans to put a higher priority on “reduce gun violence” than on guns ownership:
‘[I]n the wake of the recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, the poll finds that 70% of Americans feel that enacting laws to reduce gun violence is a higher priority than protecting the right to own a wide variety of guns.’
The Pew Research Center discovered:
‘Majorities in both partisan coalitions favor two policies that would restrict gun access: preventing those with mental illnesses from purchasing guns (85% of Republicans and 90% of Democrats support this) and subjecting private gun sales and gun show sales to background checks (70% of Republicans, 92% of Democrats). Majorities in both parties also oppose allowing people to carry concealed firearms without a permit.’
It will be interesting to watch how this new business-legislature model for the country’s responsibilities to its citizens unfolds.
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
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