May/June 2016 issue

Do You Own Part of a Gun Company?

Who’s making a profit from America’s publicly traded gun stocks.

<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-68520118/stock-photo-close-up-of-pistol-on-black-background.html?src=tEF_lXa-QlLLFGfh5ETV5g-2-72">Kai Keisuke</a>/Shutterstock

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Read our investigation into America’s 10 biggest gun manufacturers.

As often happens after mass shootings, gun company shares soared on the first day of trading following the Orlando massacre that left at least 49 people dead on June 12. But the frequency and brutality of these attacks could also lead to further divestments from the gun industry.

Following the Newtown massacre, in early 2013 the board of California’s public pension plan announced it would yank its investments in Smith & Wesson and Sturm Ruger. The $5 million divestment was a symbolic gesture for the $254 billion fund, but it was a reminder that many investors could walk away from their gun stocks without hurting their bottom lines. As California Treasurer Bill Lockyer noted, “There’s only one way that we speak and that’s with money.” Gun stocks could lose their luster for other reasons. In March 2016, New York’s public advocate urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Sturm Ruger for allegedly failing to inform its investors about liability risks stemming from its products.

Here are the holdings of some top institutional and fund investors in publicly traded gun companies:

Vanguard

BlackRock/iShares

  • 7.4% of Smith & Wesson shares valued at $89.4 million
  • 14.6% of Sturm Ruger shares valued at $165.1 million
  • 8.3% of Vista Outdoor shares valued at $225.2 million

The London Company of Virginia

  • 12.1% of Sturm Ruger shares valued at $136.1 million
  • 6.1% of Vista Outdoor shares valued at $165.8 million

Goldman Sachs

  • 7.6% of Vista Outdoor shares valued at $206.3 million

Fidelity Investments

  • 4.4% of Smith & Wesson shares valued at $43.5 million

As of December 2015

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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