In letter to senators, 145 chief execs urge steps on gun violence

The chief executives of 145 U.S. companies pressed Senate leaders to expand background checks to all firearms sales and implement stronger “red flag” laws, marking the latest push by corporate America to pressure Congress to take action on gun violence.

Signatories to a letter sent Thursday include the heads of major retailers, tech companies, financial institutions, including Levi Strauss, Twitter, Uber, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Yelp, Bain Capital and Reddit. The letter pointed to mass shootings in recent weeks — including those in El Paso, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; and Gilroy, Calif. — but also called out a broader epidemic of gun violence.

“As leaders of some of America’s most respected companies and those with significant business interests in the United States, we are writing to you because we have a responsibility and obligation to stand up for the safety of our employees, customers and all Americans in the communities we serve across the country,” the executives wrote.

“Doing nothing about America’s gun violence crisis is simply unacceptable and it is time to stand with the American public on gun safety,” they continued.

Corporate America has increasingly weighed in on — or been forced to reckon with — pressing social and

political issues facing the country and the world, from immigration to abortion.

On gun changes, companies from retailers to banks have considered whether to overhaul their own policies or distance themselves from the firearm industry. Gun sellers have come under pressure to limit the sales of firearms, especially since 24 people were killed at two shootings in Walmart stores last month.

Specifically, Thursday’s letter urged the Senate to pass a bill requiring background checks on all gun sales plus a strong redflag law that would allow courts to issue extreme-risk protection orders. The House has passed gun-control bills, but they have stalled in the Senate.

Since Congress established the background check system 25 years ago, background checks have blocked more than 3.5 million gun sales to prohibited purchasers like convicted felons and domestic abusers, the letter states.

But in the subsequent decades, the background-check law has not been updated to reflect how guns are bought and sold today. The company executives wrote that the Senate should follow actions taken by the House to pass bipartisan legislation to update the background-checks law, “helping to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them.”

The leaders also wrote that expanding red-flag laws would enable families and law enforcement agencies nationwide to intervene when someone is at serious risk of hurting themselves or others.

Walmart Inc., the largest employer in the country, did not sign Thursday’s letter. But last week, the company wrote a separate letter to Congress urging a debate over reauthorizing an assault-weapons ban.

Walmart also announced that it would stop selling ammunition for handguns and short-barrel rifles and asked that customers refrain from openly carrying firearms into its Walmart and Sam’s Club stores unless they are law enforcement officers.

Other retailers have changed their open-carry policies, including Kroger, CVS and Walgreens.