BUSINESS/GUNS: “The world’s largest asset manager put U.S. gunmakers on notice on Thursday [2-22-18] that it is no longer business as usual in the wake of a shooting that killed 17 at a Florida high school.
BlackRock Inc said it will speak with weapons manufacturers and distributors ‘to understand their response’ to the second-deadliest shooting at a public school in U.S. history, putting pressure on companies such as Sturm Ruger & Company Inc and American Outdoor Brands Corp.
BlackRock is the largest shareholder in both gunmakers and has more than $6 trillion in assets under management. It stopped short of saying it would divest its funds of gun companies, however.
Underlining how the Valentine’s Day massacre at the Florida high school has rattled the finance industry’s relationship with gunmakers, First National Bank of Omaha said separately on Thursday it would not renew a contract with the National Rifle Association (NRA) to issue a NRA-branded Visa card. The NRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gun control activists have campaigned in recent days for everything from banning semi-automatic guns like the one used in the Florida shooting to asking public pension funds to sell gun stocks.”
-Ross Kerber and Trevor Hunnicutt, “BlackRock puts gunmakers on notice after Florida school shooting,” Reuters, Feb. 22, 2018 12:16pm