Money talks, and the Courage Campaign is offering a clever way to get it to stop talking "assault rifle" by putting public pressure on financial institutions to force them to do their part.
The campaign notes, The shortest path to reduce gun violence and limit the sale of assault weapons won't run through Congress -- it runs through the banking and financial services industry.
With a simple change to their terms of service, Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and other credit card companies and payment processors can stop accepting or processing payments from retailers that sell assault weapons, bump stocks, and other weapons of mass murder.
It doesn't take an act of Congress -- just the moral clarity to make the right decision. That's why, starting today, we're calling on the financial services sector to stop enabling retailers who sell weapons of mass murder. We're enlisting you, and the corporate brands that do business with financial services companies, to speak out through petitions, social media, and the press -- creating a wave of pressure that can't be ignored.
Below is the text of their petition, which you can sign here.
Below is the petition we'll send to financial services companies, which reads:
I was sickened by the mass killing in Parkland. I was sickened by the mass killing in Las Vegas. I was sickened by the mass killing in San Bernadino. I was sickened by the mass killing in Newtown. What they all had in common was the use of easily available assault weapons meant to do maximum damage to human beings, and leave no survivors.
Companies like yours have the ability, and thus the responsibility, to do something about this. I'm calling on you to change your terms of service to indicate that you will no longer accept or process payments from retailers that sell assault weapons, bump stocks, and other weapons of mass murder. By doing so, you could curtail the sale of these weapons that have killed so many innocent children and adults.
Thank you,
[Your Name]
