William Brangham:

That's right, Amna.

The CEOs of 145 U.S. companies just sent a letter to senators urging them to pass legislation to expand background checks on anyone seeking to buy a gun and to implement a national red flag law, which would allow law enforcement to temporarily take guns from anyone judged to be a danger to themselves or to others.

The letter said, in part: "Doing nothing about America's gun violence crisis is simply unacceptable." And it's signed by the heads of companies like Levi Strauss, Twitter, The Gap, and Uber.

Another of the signatories is Richard Edelman. He's the CEO of Edelman, the global public relations and communications firm. And he joins me now from New York City.

Mr. Edelman, thank you very much for being here.

Why now? Why did this letter — why so many CEOs feel the need to say this today?