Ben & Jerry’s pushes for gun control after mass shootings

Ben & Jerry’s urges US companies to stop funding politicians who oppose arms control measures supported by the majority of Americans.

“It’s time for companies and their trade associations to stop political contributions to elected officials who do arms lobby tenderblocking common-sense gun laws that almost every American supports, “said the Vermont ice cream maker in response to recent mass shootings.” Our leaders are more sensitive to gun lobbying than to bad families of countless victims. ”

These families are lighting phones on Capitol Hill, according to Sen. Chris Murphy, whose state of Connecticut suffered the shooting of Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. Some Republicans in Congress are now more open to finding land. common on gun legislation, the Democrat. the negotiator told reporters Tuesday.

Ben & Jerry’s also called on its patrons to contact their representatives and urge them to support the ban on assault-style military weapons and high-capacity magazines. Long known for its political activism, Ben & Jerry’s gained a degree of autonomy by agreeing to be acquired by the consumer goods conglomerate Unilever 20 years ago.

Unilever did not respond to a request for comment.

Ben & Jerry’s, founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield in the late 1970s, is not without detractors of the company’s activism. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis he moved to ban his condition to do business with parent company Unilever and its subsidiaries after Ben & Jerry’s he said he would no longer sell his ice cream in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel.

Only a handful of companies have publicly reacted to the recent shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in one tweet last month he hopes that “we will unite as a country and find a way to stop this kind of tragic violence.” Echoing the sentiment, Kind founder Daniel Lubetzky he called for “common sense measures to protect our children and communities from armed violence.”