Gun Control Update: 145 CEOs Sign Open Letter To US Senate Demanding Action On Gun Violence

In an open letter to Congress, corporate America is calling on the Senate to address gun violence in the U.S. following a summer riddled by shootings.

The letter demands the Senate take up and support “commonsense” gun laws to expand background checks and institute “red flag” laws. They also call it “unacceptable” for the government to take no action on the matter in the wake of the the El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, shootings in August.

“Gun violence in America is not inevitable; it’s preventable,” the letter reads. “There are steps Congress can, and must, take to prevent and reduce gun violence. We need our lawmakers to support commonsense gun laws that could prevent tragedies like this.”

The House passed two gun laws in February that would expand background checks and lengthen the time needed to complete them. However, the bills have stalled in the Senate, with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., blocking action.

Some 145 CEOs representing America’s biggest companies signed the open letter, including AirBnb, DICK’s Sporting Goods, Beyond Meat, Lyft, and Uber.

“This diverse coalition of leading companies knows what consumers want and, for the first time, is using its combined clout and knowledge to push for common sense gun safety legislation,” Everytown for Gun Safety president John Feinblatt said in a press release. “This unified corporate action represents a sea change in American culture. The experts on America's consumers are speaking, and our elected officials should listen.”

However, the letter has received some criticism from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

"I don’t think it’s a positive thing to see big corporations shifting their focus from their customers and actually doing what they were created to do into trying to become political players on divisive social issues," Cruz said during a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Thursday morning.

The letter follows a rash of shootings that dominated headlines in August. El Paso was the first shooting of the month, with 22 people confirmed dead and 24 injured on Aug. 3. The Dayton, Ohio, shooting followed on Aug. 4, with 10 confirmed deaths and 27 injured. August ended with the shooting in Odessa, Texas, on Aug. 31 that left eight dead and 25 injured.