How to encourage divestment from gun companies

[BainsBane]

Divestment helped end Apartheid in South Africa. In addition to advocating for more effective gun control laws at the federal and state levels, we can bring financial pressure on gun companies. If resisting reasonable gun control hurts their bottom line, they will change. Like any industry, their sole concern is profits.

The horrific mass murder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut was a wake-up call for our nation, and underscored a growing epidemic of gun violence that threatens every American. In New York City, we initiated the process of divesting our public pension fund holdings in companies that manufacture military-grade assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines for sale on the civilian market.

The days of quietly condoning business as usual are over. Investors have a choice to make -- profit off an industry that puts military-grade weapons on our streets, or become a force for change? Join our call for action today by pledging to divest your gun investments and urge institutional investors to do the same.

http://advocate.nyc.gov/guns/pledge
The link above provides information on which funds invest in guns. Inform yourself and then take action.

URGE WALL STREET TO CHANGE

We're looking to generate 50,000 phone calls to the hedge funds with the largest gun holdings. It only takes a couple minutes to make a difference. We'll walk you through who to call and what to say. Click here to get started.

Use our sample letter to contact the institutional investors on our lists (hedge funds & money managers) and encourage them to join Wall Street for Change by divesting from companies that sell military grade weapons and high-capacity ammunition on the civilian market

http://advocate.nyc.gov/guns/pledge

[Squinch]

1. BIG rec, and I'm doing this today. Great idea.

[Paladin]

3. Wipe your upper lip. You're getting excited. (nt)

[GreenStormCloud]

4. So instead of discussing my point, you throw insults. N/T

[Kingofalldems]

5. So did you check the SOP of this group?

[GreenStormCloud]

6. Do you doubt the thruth of: "Money talks and bullshit walks."? N/T

[BainsBane]

8. Good advice

take it. --------------------->

[billh58]

16. Right-wing

advice from a true NRA puppet. More guns equals more profits for the manufacturers, so they can pay the NRA more money to lobby corrupt politicians for more obscene anti-people gun laws.

And this one has the audacity to tout that as a GOOD thing. The Gungeon is a swamp of right-wing anti-American ideology, and they make absolutely no apologies for spewing this stuff on a Liberal Democratic discussion board.

[BainsBane]

17. That is a fact

Indisputable.

[Paladin]

18. It's been that way for years in the Gun Control/RKBA group.

It's particularly bad during campaign season. In the run-ups to both the 2008 and 2012 elections, our resident Gun Enthusiasts were predicting with spittle-flecked delight that Obama was facing a huge ass-whupping, due to his lack of enthusiasm regarding guns. Didn't happen, obviously. And then there's that infamous 2008-era poll, where 45% of the Gun Control/RKBA faithful expressed a willingness to vote Republican over gun policy---with another 3% vowing to stay at home on election day, just to piss off Democrats. Like I say, we can make common cause with many gun owners, but the gun activists are a waste of our time. They're over on the Dark Side of this issue, and they're never coming back.

[BainsBane]

7. Why are you here?

You don't meet the terms of the SOP, and you know it.
This group exists to promote gun control, not for gun nuts to shit all over ever effort to bring about change.

[Paladin]

9. +1. (nt)

[BainsBane]

10. Obviously the concept of socially conscious investing

is alien to some.

[Paladin]

11. No big deal, there are bound to be occasional disruptors.

I am more and more persuaded that there is no meaningful dialog or compromising with pro-gun activists. We're on our own to effect the changes in firearms policy which are so badly needed in this country.

[BainsBane]

12. The most active ones

are very extreme. They don't represent the majority of gun owners. Their goal is to prevent any reform and promote gun proliferation. Polling data shows the overwhelming majority of gun owners don't agree with them, but they do articulate the same views as the powerful gun lobby that buys votes in congress.

[Paladin]

13. Big difference between gun OWNERS and pro-gun ACTIVISTS.

I've been a gun owner for better than 50 years, and I support rigorous measures to keep firearms out of the wrong hands.

[BainsBane]

14. Exactly, but they insist on conflating the two

They act like anything you say about gun zealots is an indictment against all gun owners, which many of us have repeatedly pointed out is not the case.

[Paladin]

15. That's a deliberate and longstanding smear tactic of theirs.

They need to be called on it every single time they try it.