Nearly 200 celebrities have signed Billboard magazine’s “Open Letter to Congress” urging action on gun control in the United States.
In the wake of a mass shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse in Orlando and the shooting death of singer and The Voice star Christina Grimmie the day before, stars are coming together on gun control.
Billboard magazine drew up an open letter to the US Congress, With the help of Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun violence prevention group, they invited artists to sign the letter.
“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.
Solidarity: celebrity signatures plaster this week’s “Billboard” cover | Billboard
According to Billboard, rock icon Joan Jett signed the petition within minutes. Pop star Lady Gaga quickly followed her.
Lady Gaga recently made a tearful speech at a Los Angeles vigil for the Orlando shooting victims. “This is an attack on humanity itself,” she said in her speech.
Gaga has now taken to twitter to encourage gun control.
Raise your voice America! #GunControl is needed to end violence. We need stricter laws to keep guns out of hands of the wrong people!
— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) June 23, 2016
Other celebrities to sign the letter include Britney Spears, Katy Perry, and Christina Grimmie’s longtime friend Selena Gomez. The letter demands background checks for every gun sale, and that suspected terrorists be blocked from buying guns.
My heart is absolutely broken. I miss you Christina pic.twitter.com/KWGwZZlj4t
— Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) June 11, 2016
The letter and all the signatures can be viewed here on Billboard’s website.
