On Thursday, close to 150 CEOs from various companies sent a letter to the Senate begging them to pass red flag laws and tougher background checks for all gun sales. Many of the CEOs are well known, such as Arianna Huffington from the Huffington Post and Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber.
“There are steps Congress can, and must, take to prevent and reduce gun violence. … That’s why 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 letter said.
This letter comes as the Washington Post wrote a scathing attack on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, singling him out for what they consider failing to act on legislation sitting on his desk that could potentially save lives if passed. There’s no proof the laws would indeed save lives, but they feel entitled to act and pass something and McConnell is preventing that from happening.
The opinion piece, entitled: “How many more names will be added to the list before Mitch McConnell acts on guns?” takes a look at the many mass shootings that have happened since 1999, including the names and ages of all the victims. This is an attempt to push red flag laws into place, a law the Democrat-controlled House passed swiftly.
Senate Back in Session
With the Senate now back in session since Monday after the long August recess, these CEOs are demanding that Congress act. As the first matter of business, they want tougher universal background checks and red flag laws so law enforcement and judges can take away the gun rights of others they deem to be unfit for owning weapons.
Still, any type of gun control law is unlikely to pass. We have a Republican-controlled Senate and President Trump is the least likely president to sign it into law even if it does pass the Senate. He would most likely veto the attempt, making the bill dead in the water.
