NY pension pressures Street on gun sales

The head of New York’s giant state pension is leaning on Visa, Mastercard and some of the biggest Wall Street banks, urging them to take a cue from Citigroup and take steps to crack down on gun purchases made through the financial system, according to a letter obtained by The Post.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli sent letters to nine different financial institutions asking them to consider “implementing a system that could reject the purchases” of guns and ammunition, according to a letter sent to Mastercard.

Other letters were sent to JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Discover, American Express, First Data and Worldpay.

The New York pension — the nation’s third largest with $209.1 billion in assets — has stakes in each of the firms.

The letters, which refer to the shootings in Parkland, Fla., and Sandy Hook, Conn., instruct companies that mass shootings can hurt the reputations and stock prices of companies that allow people to buy guns.

“I am writing to express my concern that Mastercard may suffer reputational harm because it allows its banking services to be used in firearms transactions,” DiNapoli wrote.

He noted that banks and credit card companies in the past have blocked purchases from other organizations that cause “reputational or societal harm,” citing crackdowns on contributions to WikiLeaks.

The pension’s move are similar to an announcement last month by Citigroup, which vowed it would no longer do business with companies that sell guns to those under 21 or with those that sell high-capacity magazines.