Gun violence in America is a health epidemic - and a shareholder opportunity
Here we are again - in a time of grief, disbelief and anger after yet another mass shooting, and of the most horrific kind: one that took the lives of 21 elementary school students and teachers in their classroom in Uvalde, Texas. And it comes on the heels of a racism-fueled shooting in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and sadly far too many others. So many of us are feeling rage and exhaustion with the lack of action by congress to enact common sense gun laws.
After all, we know that the number of mass shootings and deaths is linked to higher gun ownership and access.
We know that gun control works to decrease gun deaths.
And we know that this is now a health epidemic in the united states, as gun deaths have surpassed vehicle accidents as the #1 killer of children and adolescents in the United States.
Yet even after these horrific acts, nothing changes to make military-grade weapons any harder to purchase than a pack of cigarettes. If time after time, the money and power of the NRA speaks louder than the cries of victims and their families, we need more strategies beyond existing lobbying to push on gun control from all sides. One often overlooked strategy involves examining where our money is invested. Individuals, impact investors, foundations and companies can divest or pressure wealth managers to divest from the arms industry. Just as universities and foundations have been responding to shareholder pressure to divest from fossil fuels, this pressure should extend more broadly to acute social and health issues like gun control.
Here is something you can do:
Call your personal portfolio managers and get details about any holdings in arms manufacturers and dealers. Divest - or move your money elsewhere - if you don’t like what you find out, and write a letter let them know why you are doing so. There are even tools out there to help you invest “gun-free.” Encourage others to do the same, including the companies and organizations you work for. Put pressure on financial service companies to “own what they own” by examining their financial portfolios and pledging that they will refuse to profit from the arms industry.
Of course you can also:
Donate to the Uvalde victims fund for families.
Donate to organizations working to enact gun reform.
We cannot continue this madness.
