“Gun manufacturers have enjoyed lucrative growth in recent years, a trend now under scrutiny after the massacre of 20 children inside a Connecticut elementary school. Investors in the industry include one group that now stands out conspicuously: public school teachers, via their pension funds.
According to a Huffington Post survey of public databases, several of the nation’s largest teachers’ retirement systems — including those in California, New York and Texas — hold tens of millions of dollars worth of stock in two publicly traded gun manufacturers, Sturm, Ruger & Co. and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp.
The California Teachers Retirement System has also committed more than $700 million toward private equity funds managed by Cerberus Capital. Over the last six years, Cerberus has amassed a holding company, the Freedom Group, which has purchased some of the nation’s most prominent firearms brands. According to securities filings, the Freedom Group owns Bushmaster, the company that built the rifle that law enforcement authorities say was used in Friday’s shooting spree in Connecticut….”
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