Nearly 200 entertainers and influential executives from the music industry signed a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to take action on gun control legislation in the wake of two Orlando shooting tragedies.
The letter, released Thursday by Billboard magazine, features signatures from Katy Perry, Paul McCartney, Lin-Manuel Miranda, DJ Khaled, Cher, Kesha and others. It comes after a mass shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub that left 49 dead and 53 others wounded and the unrelated murder of singer Christina Grimmie after a concert in Orlando.
"Music always has been celebrated communally, on dancefloors and at concert halls. But this life-affirming ritual, like so many other daily experiences—going to school or church or work—now is threatened, because of gun violence in this country," the letter reads. "The one thing that connects the recent tragedies in Orlando is that it is far too easy for dangerous people to get their hands on guns."
See the letter below:
Other celebrities have spoken out on the need for gun control legislation in the wake of the Orlando murders, pushing for change on Twitter:
Democrats began a sit-in on the House floor Wednesday morning in an effort to push Republicans to hold a vote on gun control legislation.
Read more:
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