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Re: Common sense gun laws |
From: Xxxx Xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx@xxxx.com
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2019 9:19 PM
Subject: Common sense gun laws.
Hi Everyone,
Over the past few months, shootings in El Paso, Texas, Dayton, Ohio, and countless other cities have shaken Americans to their core.
Many of you know that when it comes to issues that matter deeply to me, I won’t shy away from taking a stance, and these recent shootings have prompted me to do just that. I’m personally passionate about this issue: gun violence shouldn’t be political — right now, it’s a public health crisis.
Common sense gun laws aren’t just urgent for the safety of our families and friends, but also our employees, customers and partners, the majority of which are in the United States. We have an obligation to advocate for their safety, not just because these are the people we work with every day, but because it’s the right thing to do.
That’s why today, along with 140+ other CEOs, I signed a letter urging the U.S. Senate to take action on gun safety by passing a bill to require background checks on all gun sales. Not only is this proposal widely supported by the American public, it’s common sense.
I wanted you all to know where I stand. If you have questions, you can always submit them to the All Hands Q&A or send them to me directly.
Thanks!
Xxxx,
It's taken me some time to muster up the courage to contradict someone who has control over my livelihood, but here goes.
Please, please avoid statements like this in the future. Almost every gun owner rolls their eyes at this sort of gesture, as it demonstrates ignorance of firearms, statistics, and the history of gun control in the US. "Common sense gun laws" is a phrase that is about as neutral as "family values".
To put things in perspective, let's look at the numbers. Around half of homicides in the US are committed with handguns. 6% of homicides are committed with bare hands. 3% are committed with rifles of any kind, including AR-15s. Mass shootings account for less than 1% of all firearm homicides. In short: mass shootings are a rounding error and so are rifles. Even if you could snap your fingers and stop all mass shootings and murders committed with rifles, it would not be noticeable on a graph of firearm homicides over time. If you want to save lives, focus on handguns.
My biggest issue with the letter's proposed regulations is the push for red flag laws. If you are a gun owner, such laws enable people you know to cause armed police to invade your home at any time. If you have a bad breakup, your ex can get you SWATed. If the police find evidence of other crimes during their search (such as possession of certain illicit substances), they can arrest you for that. An abusive boyfriend could have the police take his ex-girlfriends firearms away, leaving her defenseless from him. In short: Such laws are ripe for abuse, and because mass shootings are so rare, these confiscations will have extremely high rates of false positives. How many innocent people must have their freedoms infringed to catch one guilty person? I remember people asking that same question during the debate over stop-and-frisk.
As this company grows, so will the diversity of beliefs held by the workforce. If this company succeeds as much as we hope, you will be the boss of thousands of Trump supporters. You'll have anarcho-communists. You'll have young earth creationists. You'll have scores of pro-lifers. That's what success looks like. And that means any political stance you take will alienate some portion of your workers. This has knock-on effects such as making them less likely to recruit talent with heterodox beliefs. Maybe that's a worthwhile trade-off sometimes. Maybe it's not. But it's better to make such decisions deliberately rather than reacting to the latest tragedy.
Lastly, please don't take this email as an indictment of your character. You are a thoughtful and caring person. I have no doubt that you signed this letter and sent this email because you wanted to prevent innocent people from dying in terror and agony. Your intentions are good. It's just that in your position, the most effective action is likely private donations to the causes of your choosing.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Geoff Greer