Courtesy of asiarisingtv.com

Nearly $6 million has been raised for a Washington campaign for gun control after a $1 million donation from Bill and Melinda Gates on Friday (August 22), which was made public on Monday (August 25).

Bill, the co-founder of Microsoft, and his wife issued a joint statement expressing their support for I-594, which would ensure a wider background check on all gun sales, including those used at gun shows and for private sales.

The couple said that they believe I-594 “will be an effective and balanced approach to improving gun safety in our state by closing existing loopholes for background checks”.

Their donation is not the only one from a Microsoft co-founder; Paul Allen donated $500,000 earlier this month. Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie also donated to this campaign, giving $580,000.

Another significant donation was from venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, who donated a further $1 million, bringing his total donated to this campaign to almost $1.4million.

There is a rival campaign which aims to stop the state from adopting laws from background checks beyond the national standard–background check required for licensed dealers, but not for purchases from private sellers–called Initiative 591. So far, this campaign has raised just over $1 million.

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