Massachusetts Gun Manufacturers - Massachusetts has introduced legislation in the state legislature that would require the $72 billion Massachusetts Pension Reserve Investment Board to divest from companies that make guns and ammunition, state treasurer's office spokeswoman Chandra Allar confirmed in a letter.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Lori Ehrlich and Senator Cynthia Stone Cream, both Democrats, will ensure that MassPRIM sells, redeems, forfeits or divests all publicly traded securities of manufacturers of ammunition, firearms and firearms accessories that generate 15% or more of their revenue from the sale of ammunition, firearms or accessories or production for civilian purposes.
Massachusetts Gun Manufacturers
As of Jan. 31, MassPRIM owned active interests in six such companies, Ms. Allard said, and those shares were worth about $5 million.
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"As a country, we have decided to divest from Big Tobacco because of the harm it is doing to our communities," Ms. Ehrlich said in a Treasury Office press release. It's time to do the same with guns and ammunition."
"By enacting this law, Massachusetts will stand in the way of thousands of individuals and entities using their consumer rights to send a message that we must do more to stop gun violence," Ms. Karim added in a press release.
The PRIM Board may expropriate only at the direction of the Massachusetts Legislature. In the past, MassPRIM has been diverted from companies that derive a large portion of their revenue from tobacco and those that do business with Sudan, Northern Ireland and Iran due to territorial disputes.
Following the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, similar legislation was introduced in New Jersey and Florida. Additionally, Connecticut State Treasurer Dennis L. Napier recently announced that Connecticut's $34.2 billion pension plans and trusts may soon be divested from gun manufacturers.
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A New Jersey lawmaker is introducing a bill that would prevent the Pension Fund from investing in a Connecticut pension fund to consider divesting gun manufacturers. CalPERS, longtime defender of the Treasury's Gun Safety Investment Committee, rejects the April gun divestment vote. MassPRIM SIGNS $735 MILLION FOR 7 SPRINGFIELD BOXES - Stephane Mignan goes to work and literally stares down the barrel of a gun — 3,500 of them on any given shift — at a Smith & Wesson plant.
"I go to work, do my job and get up when it's time," said the 21-year-old, who has worked at the firearms factory for less than six months. "I don't think much about it, about who buys guns."
The debate over access to firearms has heated up across the country this summer in the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting that killed 49 people in June. In the following days, Democrats in Washington staged a 25-hour sit-in on the House of Representatives to demand a vote on gun control.
But there were no signs or picket lines in Springfield, home to one of the nation's largest gun manufacturers. Smith & Wesson has been in western Massachusetts for over a century and is one of the region's largest employers. And for many, including Rep. Richard Neal of Springfield, who participated in that demonstration on the House floor, it is the parent company.
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"My position has always been, be helpful so that every police officer or patrolman in America uses a Smith & Wesson, and I think the U.S. military should use a Smith & Wesson," Neal said in an interview. "At the same time, there will be disagreements about guns."
Western Massachusetts' gunmaking history dates back to the Revolutionary War, when George Washington chose Springfield as the site of the nation's first armory. Since then, the industry has grown with several gun manufacturers, including Savage Arms in Westfield, supporting the businesses that call the area home.
"It's been a part of the Western Mass. economy. Literally, for centuries," said Rick Sullivan, president of the Western Massachusetts Economic Development Council. "It's an important industry."
Mayan said he worked in heating and air conditioning before joining Smith & Wesson and was attracted to the company because of the high pay and good benefits. "You hear about Smith & Wesson. 'It's a good place to work,' he said before his friend interrupted. 'I'm trying to get there now.'
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"Good job," his colleague Mark Holland called outside the tavern at the neighborhood watering hole early one morning last month.
Holland, 54, has retired after 25 years at the paper mill and is looking for a way to stay busy. Six years ago, a friend at Smith & Wesson told him about the discovery. Now he works on machines that produce catalytic converters, among other things.
With a presence in western Massachusetts for more than a century, Smith & Wesson is one of the region's largest employers. Workers praise the company for its benefits. Charles Krupa/Associated Press/File/Associated Press
The company's impact extends beyond the doors of its headquarters on Roosevelt Avenue, where it has donated to local charities, restored the Roosevelt Avenue Veterans Memorial and helped businesses with their manufacturing supply chain. Smith & Wesson declined to comment for this article.
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Dick and Marcia Fuller have run businesses less than a mile from Smith & Wesson since the 1960s. The firearms maker is a good neighbor, helping local businesses with contracts for products and services such as bodywork for company cars, the couple said as they sat in their library as the shelves overflowed with new and used volumes.
However, people's affinity for the company doesn't seem to stop them from supporting gun control legislation. Many local residents say they support expanded background checks and additional gun protection measures, even if they are offended by the congressional hearing.
Dick Fuller called him "stupid" and likened him to "a bunch of kids" throwing a tantrum, saying "Oh, I can't get enough!"
Up the street, Michael Keakley, 54, at Vito's Hairdresser, said: "It's just not right... to use the floor of the house to push your agenda and treat it with such disrespect as if they were a bunch of hippies from the 60s.".
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Coakley said he agrees there needs to be stricter background checks on gun owners. But he added that partisan politics often trumps public safety when it comes to gun legislation.
Neal said House Democrats are left with few options other than picketing to get the attention of House Republicans, which he said would be easier to do after the mass shootings in Orlando, San Bernardino, Calif., and Aurora, Colorado.
"It shows how difficult it is to have a conversation about these kinds of things in America today," he said. "The majority does not try to take into account the concerns of the minority. That was true when we were in the majority, and it is true now."
Neal said he supports background checks for mental health, closing gun supply loopholes and barring people on the government's no-fly list from buying firearms.
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The late barbershop owner's father worked for Smith & Wesson. Ralph Ricciardi, 45, said when his father first immigrated from Italy, he needed a steady job before becoming a citizen. At the time, the authorities did not consider it a safe job as a hairdresser.
"My father actually made guns from '70 to '74," he said, cutting a customer's hair. He opened his shop in '74.
"It's like working. It's like a store or something," said David Tancraty, 58, as he waited to sit in Ralph's chair.
"We don't even think about it. It keeps a lot of people busy." Siro Ricciardi, 47, said Ralph's brother.
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Holland admits there have been moments of conflict with some who saw him wearing a camouflage shirt with his employer's name on it.
"They say, 'Well, I don't like guns,'" Holland said. "And I say, 'Well, that's your business.'
Black News Hour Presented by The Boston Globe Hosted by Black journalists from The Boston Globe, Black News Hour, a new radio show, delivers trusted news that connects with our community and explores the deeper issues affecting our city. has been producing assault weapons since 2004. But that hasn't been a legal barrier for Massachusetts gun manufacturers, notably Springfield gun giant Smith & Wesson, to make them here for sale to civilians elsewhere.
Now, gun safety advocates have proposed banning the manufacture of such weapons in Massachusetts (except for military sales). The editorial board of the Boston Globe is convinced that a principled statement on the implementation of such a ban would be important to policymakers.
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The weapon in question is essentially an AR-15, which is a semi-automatic long rifle with extremely lethal potential. It often has a folding or collapsible base, a pistol grip, and a barrel shroud or hand guard (think: heat shield). These features make it easier to conceal, move, aim, set up, grip and control the weapon while shooting. Combined with high-capacity magazines, rifles designed to accommodate these characteristics facilitate the "splat" required for an effective military weapon and are highly lethal in mass shootings.
These features help explain why AR-15s are so popular
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