Toms is celebrating a victory after a bill the company supported through its End Gun Violence Together campaign passed in the House of Representatives.
HR 8, also known as the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, served as the anchor of the footwear maker’s initiative. In the wake of the Thousand Oaks, Calif., mass shooting in November, founder Blake Mycoskie pledged $5 million toward organizations committed to gun safety and joined advocates in a countrywide tour that reached its final stop in Washington, D.C.
“We started the End Gun Violence Together initiative to create a safer country for us all and to urge our representatives to finally take action on the gun violence epidemic in this country,” Mycoskie said in a statement. “We join our gun violence prevention partner organizations and over 90 percent of Americans who support this legislation in thanking Congress for reading our postcards, hearing our collective call for change and taking this historic step.”
Two weeks ago, hundreds of gun safety activists and campaign volunteers descended upon Capitol Hill to hand-deliver the more than 700,000 postcards urging legislation on universal background checks. National Student Walkout organizer Winter BreeAnne Minisee and March for Our Lives chief strategist Matt Deitsch were among those who helped mobilize the crowd to meet with members of Congress.
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Following its passage in the House, the bill is expected to be taken to the Senate floor.
“Our work is not done,” Mycoskie said. “This legislation is the first step in ending senseless gun violence in our communities. We will continue what we started in November and urge our elected officials in the Senate to pass universal background check legislation into law.”
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