2019 Letter
Dear Members of the Senate:
Our hearts are with the victims, their families and loved ones and all those affected by the tragic shootings in El Paso and West Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. These families became members of a club that no one wants to join: the millions of Americans whose lives have been forever altered by gun violence.
Every day, 100 Americans are shot and killed and hundreds more are wounded. These are more than mass shootings; in recent weeks, gun violence has devastated Chicago, Canoga Park, Newport News, Gilroy and Brooklyn, among others. This is a public health crisis that demands urgent action.
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. Doing nothing about America’s gun violence crisis is simply unacceptable and it is time to stand with the American public on gun safety.
Gun violence in America is not inevitable; it’s preventable. There are steps Congress can, and must, take to prevent and reduce gun violence. We need our lawmakers to support common-sense gun laws that could prevent tragedies like these.
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.
Background checks and Extreme Risk laws (also referred to as "Red Flag laws") are proven to save lives. Since Congress established the background check system 25 years ago, background checks have blocked more than 3.5 million gun sales to prohibited purchasers, including to convicted felons, domestic abusers, and people who have been involuntarily committed.
However, in the decades since, the law requiring background checks on gun sales has not been updated to reflect how people buy guns today. The Senate must follow the House’s lead by passing bipartisan legislation that would update the background checks law, helping to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them, in an effort to save lives. 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.
Perpetrators of mass shootings, school shootings, and hate crimes often display warning signs before committing violent acts. Additionally, people who end their life with a gun also often show signs that they are in crisis before they act. Interventions in states with Extreme Risk laws have already prevented potential tragedies. Expanding Extreme Risk laws to enable families and law enforcement nationwide to intervene when someone is at serious risk of hurting themselves or others is critical to preventing future tragedies.
These proposals are common-sense, bipartisan and widely supported by the American public. It is time for the Senate to take action.
Sincerely,
Organizations with more than 500 employees:
Brian Chesky, Co-Founder, Head of Community and CEO, Airbnb
Keith Mestrich, President and CEO, Amalgamated Bank
Andrew Anagnost, President and CEO, Autodesk
John Connaughton and Jonathan Lavine, Co-Managing Partners, and Josh Bekenstein and Steve Pagliuca, Co-Chairmen, Bain Capital
Ethan Brown, Co-Founder and CEO, Beyond Meat
Peter T. Grauer, Chairman, Bloomberg LP
Owen Thomas, CEO, Boston Properties
Amar Hanspal, CEO, Bright Machines
Ric Clark, Chairman, Brookfield Property Group
John Driscoll, CEO, Carecentrix
Fritz Lanman, CEO, ClassPass
Roger Lynch, CEO, Condé Nast
Ken Lin, Founder and CEO, Credit Karma
Tim Andree, Executive Chairman and CEO, Dentsu Aegis Network
Edward Stack, CEO, DICK'S Sporting Goods
Tony Xu, Co-Founder and CEO, DoorDash
Doug Baker, Chairman and CEO, Ecolab
Richard Edelman, President and CEO, Edelman
Julia Hartz, Co-Founder and CEO, Eventbrite
Art Peck, CEO, Gap Inc.
Eddy Lu, CEO, Goat Group
Ben Lerer, Co-Founder and CEO, Group Nine Media
Yannick Bolloré, CEO, Havas Group
Bill Koenigsberg, President, CEO and Founder, Horizon Media
Ron Howard, Founder, and Brian Grazer, CEO, Imagine Entertainment
Patrick O. Brown, MD, PhD, Founder and CEO, Impossible Foods
Michael Roth, Chairman and CEO, Interpublic
Dave Habiger, President and CEO, JD Power
Rob Frohwein, Co-Founder and CEO, and Kathryn Petralia, Co-Founder and President, Kabbage Inc. and Drum Technologies
Jieho Lee, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Knighted Ventures
Todd Carmichael, Co-Founder and CEO, La Colombe
Chip Bergh, President and CEO, Levi Strauss & Co.
Logan Green, Co-Founder and CEO, and John Zimmer, Co-Founder and President, Lyft
Ben Chestnut, Co-Founder and CEO, and Dan Kurzius, Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer, Mailchimp
Jeffrey M Weiner, Chairman & CEO, Marcum LLP
Tom Harty, President and CEO, Meredith Corporation
Dev Ittycheria, President and CEO, MongoDB, Inc.
Howard Marks, Co-Chairman, Oaktree Capital Management
Todd McKinnon, Co-Founder and CEO, Okta
John Wren, Chairman and CEO, Omnicom Group
Ben Silbermann, Co-Founder and CEO, Pinterest
Bastian Lehmann, Co-Founder & CEO, Postmates
Hamid R. Moghadam, Chairman and CEO, Prologis
Arthur Sadoun, Chairman and CEO, Publicis Groupe
Steve Huffman, CEO, Reddit
Jennifer Hyman, Founder and CEO, Rent the Runway
Marc Lefar, President and CEO, RentPath
Richard Fain, CEO, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Scott Rechler, Chairman and CEO, RXR Realty
Stewart Butterfield, Co-Founder and CEO, Slack
Jon Oringer, Founder and CEO, Shutterstock, Inc.
Jack Dorsey, CEO, Square and Twitter
Anthony Casalena, Founder and CEO, Squarespace
Zander Lurie, CEO, SurveyMonkey
James M. Stone, Chairman, The Plymouth Rock Group of Companies
Arianna Huffington, Founder and CEO, Thrive Global
Blake Mycoskie, Founder and Chief Shoe Giver, and Jim Alling, CEO, TOMS
Jeff Lawson, Co-Founder and CEO, Twilio
Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO, Uber
Daniel Ramot, Co-Founder and CEO, Via
Melissa Waggener Zorkin, Global CEO and Founder, WE
Mark Read, CEO, WPP
Jeremy Stoppelman, Co-Founder and CEO, Yelp
Jay Fulcher, Chairman and CEO, Zenefits
Organizations with fewer than 500 employees:
Carlos M Herrera, CEO, Aeropost Inc.
Kevin P. Ryan, Founder and CEO, AlleyCorp
Travis Truett, Co-Founder and CEO, Ambition
John W. Rogers, Jr., Founder, Chairman and Co-CEO, and Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO & President, Ariel Investments, LLC
Mike Steib, CEO, Artsy
Sean Knapp, Co-Founder and CEO, Ascend.io
Andrei Cherny, Co-Founder and CEO, Aspiration
Rex Kurzius, Founder, Asset Panda
Abdur Chowdhury, CEO, Aura
Fahim M. Aziz, Founder and CEO, Backpack
JJ Abrams, Chairman and Co-CEO, and Katie McGrath, Co-CEO, Bad Robot
Ari Paparo, CEO, BeeswaxIO Corporation
Ryan Block, Co-Founder, Begin
John Borthwick, Founder and CEO, Betaworks
Frank Sculli, CEO, BioDigital
Rix Kramlich, CEO, Blurb
Raphael Crawford-Marks, Co-Founder and CEO, Bonusly
Darren Lachtman, Co-Founder, Brat
William H. Magnuson, CEO, Braze, Inc.
Trevor McFedries, CEO, Brud
Sameer Shariff, Co-Founder, Cambly
Analisa Goodin, Founder and CEO, Catch&Release, Inc.
Andrew Feldman, Founder and CEO, Cerebras Systems
John Saroff, CEO, Chartbeat
M L Morris, CEO, Chemical Concepts Inc.
Chris Britt, Co-Founder and CEO, Chime
George Favvas, CEO, Circle Medical
Alex MacCaw, CEO, Clearbit
Mary R. Cleaver, President, Cleaver Co
Tyler Bosmeny, CEO, Clever
Matt Martin, Co-Founder and CEO, Clockwise
Othman Laraki, Co-Founder and CEO, Color Genomics
Bart Myers, CEO, Countable
Kevin Cronin, President & CEO, CroninCRE Inc.
Jager McConnell, CEO, Crunchbase, Inc.
Apu Gupta, Co-Founder and CEO, Curalate, Inc.
David Oates, Co-Founder and CEO, Curtsy
Cynthia Rowley, Founder and Designer, and Allie Egan, President and CEO, Cynthia Rowley
Brian Ree, Founder and CEO, DAILYLOOK
Matt Rednor, Founder and CEO, Decoded Advertising
Ed Park, Co-Founder and CEO, and Todd Park, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Devoted Health
Saurabh Ladha, CEO, Doxel, Inc.
Andy Coravos, Co-Founder and CEO, Elektra Labs
Laurene Powell Jobs, President, Emerson Collective
David Thomas, Founder and CEO, Evident ID, Inc.
Hooman Radfar, Partner, Expa
Ale Breuer, CEO, Ezza Nails
Andrew Shearer, Founder and CEO, Farmshelf
Pradeep Elankumaran, Co-Founder & CEO, Farmstead
Sara Sutton, Founder and CEO, FlexJobs
Desiree Gruber, CEO, Full Picture
Jared Hecht, Founder and CEO, Fundera
Ken Chenault, Chairman and Managing Director, Joel Cutler, Co-Founder and Managing Director, David Fialkow, Co-Founder and Managing Director, and Hemant Taneja, Managing Director, General Catalyst
Jon R. Pundyk, CEO, Glamorise Foundations, Inc.
Jude Gomila, Founder and CEO, Golden
Brian Dally, Co-Founder and CEO, GROUNDFLOOR
Rick Nucci, Co-Founder and CEO, Guru
Rich Pierson. Co-Founder and CEO, Headspace Inc.
Michelle Hirons, Founder and CEO, HigherRing
Andrew Dudum, Founder and CEO, Hims & Hers
Kara Goldin, Founder and CEO, Hint, Inc.
Jeff Sellinger, Co-Founder and CEO, HipDot
Prerna Gupta, CEO, Hooked
Cyrus Massoumi, Managing Partner, humbition
Indra Gardiner Bowers, CEO, i.d.e.a
Nell Derick Debevoise, Founder and CEO, Inspiring Capital
Kristin Savilia, CEO, JOOR
Pierre Valade, CEO, Jumbo Privacy
William Martino, Founder and CEO, Kadena
Jake Perlman-Garr, CEO, Kanga
Ian Schafer, Co-Founder and CEO, Kindred.
Miriam Altman, CEO, Kinvolved
Warren Shaeffer, Co-Founder and CEO, Knowable
Aaron Kwittken, Founder and CEO, KWT Global and Host, Brand on Purpose Podcast
Jack Altman, CEO, Lattice
Donna LaVoie, President and CEO, LaVoieHealthScience
Emily Lonigro, Founder and President, LimeRed
Harry Zhang, Co-Founder, and Leore Avidar, Co-Founder and CEO, Lob
Scott Almquist, CEO, Lucidity Lights Inc.
Maiya Holliday, CEO, Mangrove Web Development
David Ackert, President and CEO, Maple Craft Foods
Aaron N. Block, Co-Founder and Managing Director, MetaProp.vc
Carrie Fox, Founder and CEO, Mission Partners
Dr. Nelva Lee, Founder and President, MiTio Inc.
Jamie Hampton, CEO, Mixte Communications
Afton Vechery, Co-Founder and CEO, Modern Fertility
Vivek Sharma, Founder & CEO, Movable Ink
Michael W. Kempner, CEO and Founder, MWWPR
Andrew Fisher, Founder and CEO, Myriad360
Jennifer Piette, Founder and CEO, Narrative Food
Dan Parham, Founder and CEO, and Tee Parham, Founder and CTO, Neighborland
Shafqat Islam, CEO, NewsCred
Sarah Friar, CEO, Nextdoor
Athan Stephanopoulos, President, NowThis
Varsha Rao, CEO, Nurx
William E. Oberndorf, Chairman, Oberndorf Enterprises
Steven Rosenblatt, Co-Founder and General Partner, Oceans
Nick Huzar, Co-Founder and CEO, OfferUp
James Segil, Co-Founder and President, Openpath
Jordan Husney, CEO, Parabol
Doug Aley, CEO, Paravision
Jonathan Spier, CEO, PLAE
John Milinovich, CEO, Plato Design
Rajat Suri, CEO, Presto
Christopher Gavigan, Founder and CEO, Prima
Lorraine Schuchart, APR, Founder and CEO, Prosper for Purpose
Adam Regelmann, Founder and COO, Quartzy
Felix Schein, President, RALLY
Nate Maslak, Co-Founder and CEO, and Nate Fox, Co-Founder and CTO, Ribbon Health
Crystal Mario, CEO, Rivanna Natural Designs, Inc.
Zachariah Reitano, Co-Founder and CEO, Ro
Gary Beasley, Co-Founder and CEO, Roofstock
Stephen Ehikian, Co-Founder and CEO, Ruist
Lisa Rodriguez, CEO, Seismic
Brian Schechter, CEO, SelfMade
Dilip Rao, Co-Founder & CEO, Sharebite
Olga Vidisheva, Founder and CEO, Shoptiques Inc.
Dan Doctoroff, CEO, Sidewalk Labs
Jason Tan, CEO, Sift
Matt Cooper, CEO, Skillshare
Grant Jordan, CEO, SkySafe
Josh Guttman, Co-Founder and CEO and Florent Peyre, Co-Founder and President, Small Door
Michael Carvin, Co-Founder and CEO, SmartAsset
Aaron King, Founder and CEO, Snapdocs, Inc.
Neil Capel, CEO, Solve.io
Shripriya Mahesh, Founding Partner, Spero Ventures
Ben Hindman, Co-Founder and CEO, Splash
Pierre-Jean "PJ" Cobut, Co-Founder and CEO, Spry Health
Evan Beard, Founder and CEO, Standard Bots
Stanlee R. Gatti, Founder, Stanlee R. Gatti Designs
Jordy Leiser, Co-Founder and CEO, Stella Connect
Bradford Oberwager, Chairman, Sundia Corp. and CEO, Jyve Corp
Ross Feinstein, CEO, Sunlight Health
Paul Budnitz, CEO, Superplastic
Ron Conway, Founder, SV Angel
Timothy Armstrong, Founder and CEO, the dtx company
Maria Molland, CEO, Thinx
Heidi Zak, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, and David Spector, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, ThirdLove
Yashar Nejati, CEO, thisopenspace inc.
Joshua Kushner, Founder and Managing Partner, Thrive Capital
Chris Wang, CEO, ThunderCore Inc.
Arun Saigal, CEO, Thunkable
Corbett Kull, CEO, Tillable
Meghan Jewitt, CEO, Uniform Teeth
Eric Savage, Co-founder and CEO, Unitus Capital
Andy MacMillan, CEO, UserTesting
Yat-Pang Au, CEO, Veritas Investments, Inc.
Nicholas Goldner, Co-Founder and CEO, and Christopher Bulow, Co-Founder and COO, Viosera Therapeutics
Ken Chong, CEO, Virtual Kitchen Co
Irv Remedios, CEO, Voxer
Oliver Cameron, Co-Founder and CEO, Voyage
Chase Adam, Co-Founder and CEO, and Grace Garey, Co-Founder and COO, Watsi
Liz Wessel, Co-Founder and CEO, WayUp
Neil Waller, CEO, Whalar
Bismarck Lepe, CEO, Wizeline
Dennis R. Mortensen, Founder and CEO, x.ai, inc.
Geoff Ralston, President, Y Combinator
Shan-Lyn Ma, Co-Founder and CEO, Zola
Corey Manicone, CEO, Zuul Kitchens