State joining global investors gun safety drive

Connecticut has joined a coalition of global investors to pressure gun manufacturers and sellers to make firearms safer.

The $35 billion Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, which is part of the group, released a set of principles for a responsible civilian firearms industry Wednesday.

State Treasurer Denise Nappier, who administers the retirement plans, said there is a potential longterm business risk posed by mass shootings and other deaths related to the misuse of guns.

“The proliferation of gun violence is not only a public health issue, but also a business risk issue, both of which are central to our fiduciary role as long-term institutional shareholders,” Nappier said in a statement. In recent years, she has has lobbied firearms manufacturers and distributors to make a business argument for the reasonable regulation of guns and ammunition sales.

The group, including other states and institutional investors, is asking the civilian firearms industry to comply with five principles that include the development of technology to make firearms safer and easier to trace; the adoption of responsible dealer standards; the establishment of complete background checks; better education and training of employees at distributors, dealers and retailers; and to work collaboratively with the investors.

Mark Oliva, a spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said the trade association welcomes suggestions for improving gun safety.

“On behalf of the members of our industry, the National Shooting Sports Foundation has long advocated for effective solutions to prevent unauthorized access to firearms by criminals, the dangerously mentally ill, children and others who cannot be trusted to handle firearms in a safe and responsible manner,” Oliva said in an emailed statement. “The firearms industry welcomes participation in the national conversation to make our communities and our schools safer. We will continue to lead and participate in finding and enhancing practical solutions that protect lives and preserve the rights of lawabiding Americans.”

The investors have combined assets of more than $4.83 trillion and include public employee retirement and pension funds from Connecticut, California, Florida, Maine, Maryland and Oregon, retirement systems representing the Methodist and Roman Catholic churches, as well as Nuveen, the asset manager of TIAA, OIP Investment Trust, Rockefeller Asset Management, State Street Global Advisors and Wespath Investment Management.

“We’ve tried to do it alone in the past, but you need a group,” Christopher Ailman, chief investment officer of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, who is helping coordinate the effort, told Bloomberg News. “You need a chorus of investors singing loud and clear to hear you.”

Ailman traced the retirement fund’s concern about the gun industry to the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. More recently, mass shootings have taken place in Las Vegas, where victims included California teachers; a high school in Parkland, Fla.; a Pittsburgh synagogue; and a bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

After Parkland, American Outdoor, the gun and outdoor equipment manufacturer formerly known as Smith & Wesson, was questioned by its largest shareholder, asset manager BlackRock Inc., which held 11 percent at the time. But American Outdoor was not swayed, and the New York-based BlackRock has not joined the coalition.

Nappier said the treasurer’s office will use the principles to guide conversation and collaboration with the companies in the gun industry in which the Connecticut Retirement Plan has investments, but did not specify which companies the fund invests in or if any conversations have been had yet.

“We must do better,” Nappier said. “We must continue to speak out, contribute constructively to the public debate over this important issue, and achieve the outcome for which we all strive: the safety of our communities and of all our citizens.”