It was reported Monday that Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and incredibly wealthy guy, and with his wife, Melinda, have given $1 million to Initiative 594 in Washington state. The ballot initiative, if passed by voters on November 4 (and it currently enjoys overwhelming support), will require universal background checks for all firearm purchases in the state.
Gates is only the latest Washington billionaire to give to the effort, with original Amazon investor Nick Hanauer providing crucial early funding, and more recently upping his overall donation to $1.4 million. Additionally, Gates’s Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen, has provided $500,000 for the cause.
But Gates’s fame brings more attention and further legitimizes the initiative in a way that almost nobody else could. Once the Gates Foundation made it a priority to combat malaria around the world in 2000, it brought down deaths due to the insect-borne disease by 20 percent in 11 years, saving the lives of 1 million African children in the process.
Gates has the ability to grab headlines and make an issue go viral with the constant media coverage he receives, and the financial ability, if he wins, to fund similar efforts around the country. His involvement could be the answer to the public health crisis that makes American children 93 percent of those murdered in the 26 high-income countries around the world.
You know I have been looking for some good news on the gun control issue, and this could really be it.
If Gates really decides to take this on it could be a game changer.
And I truly hope that he does.
Next he'd better take on ebola..this disease could be a worldwide threat.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bill Gates.
ReplyDeleteWhy shouldn't you have to go through a background check, it seems like common sense that this would be a requirement to own a gun. It is just like having to take a drivers test and caring insurance. When are people going to wake up and realize that the NRA represents gun manufacturers not the public at large.... money, money, money
ReplyDeleteYes, if you are a law abiding and responsible gun owner why would you object to having a background check anyway? Seems as if there are a lot of pro-gun folks with something to hide.
Delete@ 6:03 - Actually what you have is a lot of pro-gun folks who have been fed a steady diet of propaganda that makes them paranoid that ANY reasonable gun control measure is simply the first step toward the "tyrannical government" rounding them all up.
DeleteI mean, the idiots STILL talk about "Obama coming for our guns", even though he has not made a single step toward that supposed goal. I guess they think he's gonna wait until the last day of his "reign" and invoke it with one of his "imperial decrees" when he suspends the constitution so he can be King of America for life.
I wish I wasn't joking about that last part, but there are cretins out there who truly believe this. I'm looking at YOU, Victoria Jackson...
Exactly, 5:36, just exactly.
DeleteSo true, Boscoe. And how does one know they're dealing with a law abiding citizen without knowing through background checks if they've committed crimes, any crimes?
Delete"Hi! I'm a law abiding citizen (trust me) and I'd like to buy that uzi submachine gun, ammo, oh bait and a pack of trident gum"
Another "accidental shooting"
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/SoCal-langley-production-mourns-bryce-dion-killed-filming-cops--
I hope it passes as well. Bill and Melinda do a lot of philanthropic work around the world. They've brought clean water to villages, medical care and supplies, inoculations and anti venom serum around the world while steering clear of the spotlight.
ReplyDeleteI admire people like him who put their money where their mouth is, and act on getting good things done, when in reality, he doesn't need to lift a finger and could live happily for the rest of his life on a yacht.