On April 2, a group of California teachers protested the fact that the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) is still invested in guns–particularly Bushmaster Firearms–more than two years after Adam Lanza’s heinous attack on Sandy Hook Elementary.
According to KRCRA 3, “CalSTRS has a portfolio of $190.8 billion and is the second-largest public pension fund in the U.S.” But teachers in the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers are upset over the fact that millions of dollars of that portfolio come from firearm investments.
CalSTRS voted to divest of firearm investments after Lanza stole guns and then committed heinous crimes with them at his home and at Sandy Hook. But the pension still owns Freedom Group through investments with Cerberus Capital Management, and Freedom Group owns Bushmaster.
California Federation of Teachers’ (CFT) Jeff Freitas said: “It is contradictory for the contributions we make to our retirement to be invested in gun manufacturing.”
CalSTRS spokesman Mike Sicilia said, “We’ve been unable to divest ourselves from that up to this point.” The process for divesting is expected to take not weeks or months, but “even years,” going forward.
On March 22, Breitbart News reported that CFT president Joshua Pechthalt previously made clear his belief that divesting in gun companies is the right thing to do, even if it means “a slight loss” in retirement funds.
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