Last Thursday, a new letter from business leaders & CEOs to the Senate calling for action on gun safety was launched with more than 220 signatories, including Levi Strauss & Co., Bain Capital, Northwell Health, Bloomberg LP, Yelp, Lyft, DoorDash, Lululemon Athletica., J. Crew, WPP, The Permanente Medical Group, Inc., the San Francisco Giants and 49ers, and the Philadelphia Eagles.
As of this morning, that number had more than doubled and now includes 500 signatories across many sectors and with a presence in all 50 states.
Among those that signed on after launch are Yahoo, the Golden State Warriors, Squarespace, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Cleveland Guardians, Penguin Random House U.S., Macmillan Publishers, Alliant Insurance Services, and La Colombe Coffee Roasters. The letter and the full list of signatories can be found at ceosforgunsafety.org and is still adding new companies.
This remarkable growth is a clear signal of the energy, engagement and urgency coming from the business community around our country’s gun violence epidemic, which has cost us far too many lives and devastated far too many communities. It also highlights the clear relevance of the issue to our nation’s businesses and overall economy. Gun violence costs American taxpayers, employees, and consumers $280 billion per year and employers lose $1.4 million every day in productivity, revenue, and costs because of gun violence.
The letter calls for the Senate to take immediate action on this preventable crisis and hopes now to support the ongoing cross-aisle conversation happening in Washington, DC. The news this past Sunday that a bipartisan group of 20 senators introduced a historic framework that, if enacted, would be the first major federal gun safety law in nearly 26 years, was heartening, but real follow through is now required in order to make our communities and our public spaces safer for all.