A Gun Safety Idea That Can Sidestep the Republican Congress
Photo by Brandon Jacoby on Unsplash
As many Americans struggle to come to grips with yet another mass shooting at a school, Andrew Sorkin of the New York Times has an interesting idea. In his DealBook column, Sorkin floats the idea of financial services companies taking the lead on gun safety.
The idea essentially is that credit card companies, credit card processors, and banks could join forces and create a new set of de facto rules for gun sales. Sorkin posits that all of these companies could essentially stop doing business with entities that sell assault rifles. He cites PayPal, Square, and Apple Pay as entities that won’t allow their services to be used for the purchase of ANY guns.
Now clearly there are challenges to this approach. As Sorkin notes, large retailers like Walmart, would likely oppose any policy that allows outside entities to influence what they can sell.
Nonetheless, this idea is a creative attempt to cut the Gordian Knot around gun safety. Like the companies, states, cities, and non-profits that are moving ahead on climate friendly policies despite the Trump administration’s hostility, taking a market based approach to gun safety is a creative first step.
