Levi’s jeans may be associated with cowboys and the old west, but that’s not preventing the company from going ‘woke’ on gun control. The company’s CEO and president Chip Bergh recently announced that they are partnering with the left wing gun control group Everytown USA.
Morgan Gstalter reports at The Hill:
Levi Strauss teams up with gun control group: ‘We simply cannot stand by silently’American denim giant Levi Strauss & Co. announced Tuesday that it is launching a series of new initiatives to benefit groups working to prevent gun violence.Levi Strauss’s CEO and President Chip Bergh wrote in Fortune on Tuesday that the company “simply cannot stand by silently when it comes to issues that threaten the very fabric of the communities where we live and work.”“You may wonder why a company that doesn’t manufacture or sell guns is wading into this issue, but for us, it’s simple,” Bergh wrote. “Americans shouldn’t have to live in fear of gun violence. It’s an issue that affects all of us — all generations and all walks of life.”Bergh said it was his responsibility to speak up for important issues since he leads a “values-drive company that’s known the world over as a pioneer of the American West and one of the great symbols of American freedom.”He added that he is not advocating to repeal the 2nd Amendment nor calling gun owners irresponsible.
Here’s part of what Bergh wrote at Fortune:
Levi Strauss CEO: Why Business Leaders Need to Take a Stand on Gun ViolenceIn November 2016, I wrote an open letter requesting that gun owners not bring firearms into our stores, offices, or facilities, even in states where it’s permitted by law. This was following an incident in one of our stores in which a customer accidentally shot and injured himself while trying on a pair of jeans. While that was bad, it could have been worse: The bullet could have killed him, another customer, or one of our employees.In the days after I published that letter, I received threats to our stores, our business, and even on my life. It was unsettling. But these personal attacks pale in comparison to the threats that activists and survivors from Parkland, Sandy Hook, and daily incidents of gun violence face every time they speak up on this issue…First, we have established the Safer Tomorrow Fund, which will direct more than $1 million in philanthropic grants from Levi Strauss & Co. over the next four years to fuel the work of nonprofits and youth activists who are working to end gun violence in America.Second, I’m proud to announce that Levi Strauss & Co. is partnering with Everytown for Gun Safety and executives including Michael Bloomberg to form Everytown Business Leaders for Gun Safety, a coalition of business leaders who believe, as we do, that business has a critical role to play in and a moral obligation to do something about the gun violence epidemic in this country. I encourage every CEO and business leader reading this to consider the impact we could make if we stood together alongside the broad coalition of concerned parents, youth, elders, veterans, and community and faith leaders who are committed to shaping a safer path forward.
It’s nice that Bergh said he’s not advocating to repeal the Second Amendment but make no mistake, Everytown USA is a left wing political organization. Take a look at some of the most recent tweets in their official feed:
Don’t tell me this is merely a gun safety group, because it isn’t. It is waging a war on the NRA and by extension, the Second Amendment itself.
As for Levi Strauss & Co., real life once again imitates parody:
Featured image via YouTube.
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