Nutter proposes divestment from gun makers, sellers that don't follow his 20 "Sandy Hook Principles"
Mayor Nutter on Tuesday announced a plan to force gun manufacturers and retailers to adhere to a list of 20 "Sandy Hook Principles" or face divestment from Philadelphia and, he hopes, other cities and organizations across the country.
Nutter proposes divestment from gun makers, sellers that don't follow his 20 "Sandy Hook Principles"
Sean Collins Walsh
Paging Rush Limbaugh.
Mayor Nutter on Tuesday announced a plan to force gun manufacturers and retailers to adhere to a list of 20 “Sandy Hook Principles” or face divestment from Philadelphia and, he hopes, other cities and organizations across the country.
“Americans have economic power in how we choose to spend and invest our money. We can and should use that power to send a very strong message that irresponsible corporate behavior will not be tolerated,” Nutter said at a press conference.
The requirements, based on the Sullivan Principles that sparked a divestment movement against South Africa’s Apartheid regime, include “develop and implement technology-enhanced safety measures for guns” and “support and promote a requirement that all background check data be shared by all federal agencies.”
Nutter, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said he hopes that cities like Los Angeles and Chicago will follow suit and that a broad movement of divestment against what he views as irresponsible weapons companies will take place.
Asked whether he fears a conservative backlash (similar to what happened when liberal groups protested Chik-fil-A and ended up sparking a mass show of support for the fast-food company by their opponents), Nutter said now is not the time to worry about what others will do but to take action with the tools that cities have.
To start the process, Nutter is asking the city Pension Board to review its portfolio, find companies that might be in violation of the principles and notify them that they have to make changes.
Go ahead, bankrupt all the gun manufacturers in America. China needs an open market for its guns. Did you know China manufactures clones of just about every firearm made in the U.S.A.? This includes the much-maligned AR-15.— DonQ- I agree. Its amazing how short sighted the Democrats, specifically the ones in the cities are.
The irony here is when the Terri Schiavo case was going on and George Bush threatened to use to Executive Order to stop the Court Approved DNR election, all the leftist liberals scoffed at Bush's clear abuse of the Office.
Now the shoe is on the other foot and they want Obama to do the same thing they accused Bush of which was trampling the Constitution.
Hypocrites.
Either way, get ready for the next Civil War and it will be on Obama's and the Democrats hands if they try to go through with any illegal Executive Orders.— Professor1982 - Sounds like a shopping list to me... — DeltaV
- The funny thing is to, under the liberals and Obama's argument, if someone said something that indirectly harmed another, they would issue an Executive Order regulating the 1st Amendment.
Amazing.— Professor1982 - fine with me, I am in the process of divesting myself from the city of Philadelphia. My job is the only thing keeping me here right now. One more taxpayer heading for the door.— Tom813
- SO how is punishing those of us that have been obeying the law going to change anything? Guess what, its not. By definition a criminal is someone that acts without regard for the rule of law. Lets address the real problem of the lack of care for or care and confinement of the mentally ill that should not be part of society. It worked years ago, it can work again. None of the shooters in this spat of mass killings has been someone that is mentally fit.— Wildman Bill
- Gotta give Mikey credit, he's always good for a laugh. Like this will solve the problem.— jimmymack
- This is not really surprising, some private investment funds have already stepped back from gun manufacturer stocks (their reasons were that they were expecting problems for these companies)!— EIK
- "Problems"??? These companies have back orders of up to 1 yr on certain products. They're printing money faster than the Central Bank is.
— Professor1982 - The California Retired Teachers Association is divesting all its gunmanufacturer stock and the private equity firm that owns the Freedom Group said they are selling the company and returning the money to investors.
Chicago and other large city mayors are exploring Nutter's solution.
Large pension funds are thinking about doing the same thing (We are talking about entities here that investment billions of dollar, they do have a voice!).
So those of you defending these companies, it is time for you to start investing your money in them!
Professor:
You should know that "revenues" are not the only thing important to companies:
try the words potential liability, some states/representative are trying to get rid of their immunity from product liability, possible regulatory problems, etc etc.— EIK - This comment has been deleted. — ComeAndTakeIt
- ComeAndTakeIt
You seem to make a lot of assumptions and practice your name calling regularly!
I am a person who believes that American have a right to bear arms but they do not have a right to be an army of one!
You may own anything and everything anywhere you want is not how I see it!
Just like any other right, 2nd amendment should have its limitations! It is not absolute!— EIK - By the way, according to the conservative pollster Luntz:
people who think Americans should own whathever they want,as many as they want and anywhere they want are ONLY 10% of the population!— EIK - So let me get this straight, since Nutter has been mayor more than 1200 people have been murdered in Philadelphia, an overwhelming majority by guns.
But it takes 26 people in Connecticut to wake him up?
Call me crazy, but Nutter seems to be doing the obvious thing that politicians do: taking advantage of a tragedy. There is nothing in his "principles" that would stop another Sandy Hook or Aurora from happening.— General Turgidson - For every genuine attempt to stem gun violence, gun slingers have moronic replies that just confirm the ignorance and back woods mentality of so many of the general public.— Bigbirch
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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