Top executives from Northwell Health, Kaiser Permanente and Children's Minnesota are among hundreds of corporate leaders urging the Senate to pass gun safety legislation in a letter sent to lawmakers Thursday.
The letter from CEOs for Gun Safety calls on senators to "transcend partisanship" and swiftly advance legislation to curb gun violence following the killings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and recent shootings at a medical facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.
"The gun violence epidemic represents a public health crisis that continues to devastate communities—especially Black and brown communities—and harm our national economy. All of this points to a clear need for action: The Senate must take urgent action to pass bold gun safety legislation as soon as possible in order to avoid more death and injury," the CEOs wrote. The House passed a gun safety bill Wednesday but the measure faces a stiffer challenge in the evenly divided Senate.
Northwell Health President and CEO Michael Dowling, Permanente Medical Group Executive Director Dr. Richard Isaacs, Children's Minnesota President and CEO Marc Gorelick, CentraState Healthcare System President and CEO Thomas Scott, and LifeBridge Health President and CEO Neil Meltzer are signatories to the letter.
Executives from companies such as Bain Capital, Bloomberg, DICK'S Sporting Goods, Levi Strauss, the Philadelphia Eagles and Unilever United States also signed the letter.
Over the past several years, numerous health systems and other corporations have stepped into the gun control fight, asking Congress to fund anti-gun violence programs and identifying gun violence as a serious public health issue, while many also revamped internal safety measures.
"Gun violence can be prevented," the CEOs wrote. "Our families, our communities and our places of business are depending on you. Stand with us and the American public. Put the safety of your constituents and their children first."
