Gun Violence is a Human The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) clearly state companies’ responsibilities to ensure businesses operate with respect for human Rights Issue rights. When it comes to human rights impacts related to gun violence, business may cause, contribute, or be directly linked to the violation. UN Guiding Principle 13 states that How gun manufacturers and related companies may be business enterprises have a linked to human rights abuses responsibility to respect human rights, which entails that companies should: 1. A company may cause an adverse human rights impact through a company’s own actions or failure to act, for example by failing to prevent the adverse impact of accidental deaths from guns. 2. A company may contribute to an adverse human rights impact • Avoid causing or contributing to adverse through its own activities if it fails to incorporate prudent gun safety human rights impacts through their own technology in the development of its products. activities and address such impacts when they 3. A company may be directly linked to an adverse human rights occur. impact – impacts linked to the company’s products, services, or operations through a business relationship, without the company having contributed to the harm. This could be selling firearms to someone who then supplies the firearm to someone who comments commits violence against civilians against the local legislation. • Seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products, or services by their Given the clear impacts of gun violence on human rights, business relationships, even if they have not including the right to life, companies should address gun violence contributed to those impacts. as part of their responsibility to protect human rights. Sources: UNGPs; John Ruggie Comments on Implications of UNGPs