OLYMPIA — Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and his wife have donated another $250,000 to a campaign seeking universal background checks on gun sales in Washington, bringing their total donation to the campaign to just over $1 million.
The latest gift from the Ballmers was made to Initiative 594 last week and was filed with the state’s Public Disclosure Commission on Monday, according to campaign manager Zach Silk. Steve Ballmer, a former Microsoft CEO, and his wife, Cindy, each donated $125,000.
“They join thousands of donors from all walks of life working to reduce gun violence in Washington state,” Silk wrote in an email. “With ballots dropping into mail boxes next week, we will use these resources to make the case to Washington voters that we can make a difference this November.”
I-594 would require background checks for all gun sales and transfers, including at gun shows and person-to-person sales. Supporters have now raised more than $7.8 million.
The Ballmers’ donation is the most recent big money gift from prominent figures, including Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Everytown for Gun Safety, a group funded by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, also has donated $1 million to the campaign.
A rival campaign, Initiative 591, would prevent the state from adopting background-check laws that go beyond the national standard, which requires the checks for sales by licensed dealers but not for purchases from private sellers. That campaign has raised just over $1 million. The National Rifle Association is also working to defeat I-594, and has spent about $200,000 in the state so far, but has not endorsed the I-591 campaign.
Alan Gottlieb, chairman for Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, who is leading the campaign for I-591, said that while he’s not surprised by the continued influx of cash into the I-594 campaign, “my concern would be the same as the average voter, and that’s that a small number of people are buying an election.”
