ADVERTISEMENT

Corporations Demand Congress Enact Gun Control

Twitter, Uber, Lyft, Yelp CEOs sign letter

San Francisco. Getty Images
September 12, 2019

Business leaders and CEOs sent a letter to members of the Senate on Thursday, demanding that they impose background checks on private gun sales and implement so-called "red flag" laws, the New York Times reported.

"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 executives wrote.

"We urge the Senate to stand with the American public and take action on gun safety by passing a bill to require background checks on all gun sales and a strong Red Flag law that would allow courts to issue life-saving extreme risk protection orders," the executives' letter said. "Background checks on all gun sales are a common-sense solution with overwhelming public support and are a critical step toward stemming the gun violence epidemic in this country."

Various tech executives signed the letter, including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, and Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman. 

The executives highlighted the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, as well as the number of Americans killed or harmed by gun violence each day. 

On Feb. 27, the House of Representative passed a bill on background checks (H.R. 8) that has not been brought to a vote in the Senate. The bill would "establish new background check requirements for firearm transfers between private parties."

"Specifically, it prohibits a firearm transfer between private parties unless a licensed gun dealer, manufacturer, or importer first takes possession of the firearm to conduct a background check," according to a summary of the bill.

The Democrat-majority House has also placed increased pressure on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) to take action in support of gun legislation. 

"We await word from [Sen. McConnell] when that debate might take place," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) said earlier this week. "One thing we do know is that Leader McConnell has said that the question of background checks will come down to President Trump."