City-employee pension fund goes anti-gun

[O2HeN2]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...844667026.html

So let me see if I've got this right: Not only is a public entity entrusted to earn the most return on the dollar choosing not to do so for political reasons, but if I'm a gun owner, my money that I put into the fund over my lifetime is being used against me!

Yhea, I think I got it right.

Sounds like a lawsuit in the making if the fund ever runs into financial problems: They knowingly didn't maximize their return.

O2

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Fund Asks Firearms Sellers to Set Limits

By PETER LOFTUS

Philadelphia's city-employee pension fund is asking gun makers and retailers in which it invests to support restrictions on firearm and ammunition sales and other gun-control policies, in response to last month's shootings in Newtown, Conn.

The fund will divest itself of holdings in any company that doesn't adopt the so-called Sandy Hook Principles, under the terms of a resolution passed Thursday by the Philadelphia Board of Pensions and Retirement, which manages a $4.2 billion fund on behalf of about 64,000 members. The principles were suggested by Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter.

Companies will be asked to back measures to keep guns out of the hands of children, the mentally ill and others prohibited from possessing them under federal law. The principles also include support for universal background checks for all sales of guns and ammunition, and the development of technology-enhanced safety measures for guns and ammunition.

The principles apply to gun and ammunition makers, distributors and retailers, with an exception for sales to law-enforcement agencies and the military. Francis X. Bielli, executive director of the pension board, said the fund has investments of about $15 million in companies that would be affected by the resolution, including shares in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. A Wal-Mart spokesman declined to comment. A Smith & Wesson spokesman couldn't be reached.

Mr. Nutter, who has targeted gun violence in the city, last week asked his representative on the pension board to propose the Sandy Hook Principles resolution. He said he wanted to use the fund's economic power to influence the behavior of companies involved in firearm manufacturing and distribution.

Write to Peter Loftus at peter.loftus@dowjones.com

[hatidua]

The mayors name pretty much covers it.