Teachers pension fund votes to sell holdings in firearms, ammo clips [View all]

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Last edited Wed Jan 9, 2013, 10:08 PM - Edit history (1)

Acting on a request from the state treasurer, the board of the state teachers pension fund has begun the process of selling its holdings in some gun and ammunition-clip manufacturers.

Treasurer Bill Lockyer's motion was approved unanimously Wednesday by the Investment Committee of the $154-billion California State Teachers' Retirement System.

Lockyer brought the issue to the board in response to December's mass shooting of 20 students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Conn.

"CalSTRS' action targets ammunition clips that turn ordinary guns into killing machines, assault weapons and other firearms that pose extreme dangers to public health and safety," Lockyer said. "Divestment from the makers of these products complies with the board's fiduciary duty and its investment policy, which specifically allows divestment from manufacturers of products that endanger public health."

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-pension-votes-firearms-divestment-20130109,0,4942689.story

NYTimes
(snip)
An official of the Los Angeles pension fund for police and fire fighters said one of its trustees had also sought an evaluation of how its investment in the Freedom Group comported with its investment policies. The Los Angeles Police Department is also a customer of the company.

Connecticut’s treasurer, Denise L. Nappier, who is the sole trustee of that state’s pension fund, said the fund’s only stake in a weapons manufacturer was in Alliant Techsystems, which sells ammunition. But she said she was also looking for potential problems among companies that sell and distribute weapons.

New York City’s five pension funds — which were valued at $127.8 billion in September — contain nearly $18 million in weapons and ammunition companies, the city comptroller’s office said. The comptroller, John C. Liu, said in a statement that the funds “are reviewing their holdings in gun manufacturers and are considering all options, including divestment, to ensure that public pension dollars do not support weapons that can destroy a community in the blink of an eye.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/10/business/california-teachers-fund-to-divest-of-gun-stock.html?_r=0