Letter: Look at gun makers' funding

Have we had enough? Another mass shooting. Another AR-15. DNA tests needed from parents to help identify children's bodies. And our government is unwilling/unable to pass new legislation. What can be done?

One action we can all take is to insist on ethical banking. Most large banks finance the manufacture and distribution of firearms along with making other environmentally and socially harmful investments. We can all choose to boycott these financial institutions.

Faced with negative publicity, some are making small changes, possibly to reduce "reputational risk," and many are whitewashing their public image. Unfortunately, change is even more difficult now that several states, including Texas, have enacted laws prohibiting state and municipal contracts with or sanctioning banks that practice "discriminatory lending" by refusing to finance firearms and fossil fuels.

I have wanted to boycott my large bank for years, but I told myself, what a hassle. All those automatic deposits and payments set up years ago. Over time, my anger surged. Now my husband and I are nearly through the process. It actually hasn't been difficult. First, we researched financial institutions on mightydeposits.com. Our choices boiled down to banking online with a highly ethical large bank (there are none in Illinois) or with a smaller community bank. We chose a community bank focused on the greater Chicago area and not just our predominantly wealthy city. All changes to our automatic withdrawals were made online a few at a time.

When we opened our new account, the banker working with us asked why we were changing banks. When we told her we didn't want our money to support fossil fuels and firearms, she looked shocked. She had never known anyone to take this action.

That was before the massacre in Uvalde. God help us. Help us all to act.

Teresa Exner

Wheaton