California Treasurer John Chiang has urged state pension fund managers to divest holdings in companies that sell firearms and ammunition within other states, that are considered illegal in California. While this would be the first-time California, which has the nation’s largest state pension fund, has urged fund managers to excise connections to gun retailers in the state pension system; following the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, state pension funds were asked to divest shares in gun manufacturers. Last year the New York City Employees’ Retirement system voted to divest shares of Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), Cabela’s (now private) and Big 5 Sporting Goods (BGFV).
Howie Long-Short: The California State Teachers’ Retirement System and the California Public Employee’s Retirement System own a combined $12.4 million worth of shares in DKS and an additional $1.7 million worth in BGFV. If this proposal were to pass, and in California that isn’t difficult to envision, public pressure could force other states to follow. I’m not ready to say a gun wholesale/retail sell-off is coming, but Chiang has sparked a movement that certainly could lead to one.
Fan Marino: Chiang sadly reported that 3 of the 59 killed in Las Vegas were California teachers.
California Treasurer Urges State Pension Funds to Drop Gun Sellers
