Ballmer Joins Billionaires Pushing Washington Gun Control

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-13/ballmer-joins-billionaires-pushing-washington-gun-control.html




Fundraising for a gun-control campaign in Washington state is outpacing opponents by a ratio of 4-to-1, fueled by contributions from former Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) executives Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Jon Shirley.

They and other supporters have given about $3.4 million to the effort to impose criminal background checks on those who buy firearms online or at gun shows. A competing gun-rights initiative has garnered about $1.1 million to require buyer background checks only when the seller is a firearms dealer, the current federal standard.

“Maybe technology-oriented people are a little more comfortable with being disruptive,” said Rich Barton, who founded travel website Expedia Inc. (EXPE) while working at Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft and donated $42,500 to the gun-control measure. “We can’t get our legislatures to reflect the will of the people, and so if we need to take our case directly to the people via a ballot initiative, so be it.”

U.S. billionaires are increasingly using their wealth to champion causes at the polls. California hedge-fund founder Tom Steyer successfully backed a 2012 measure to close a corporate tax loophole, while Susan Buffett, daughter of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett, is supporting Chuck Hassebrook, a Democrat running for Nebraska governor.