John Rosenthal reacts to the favorable outcome of a proposal for accountability by minority shareholders.
Boston, MA – Today, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility won a resolution at the shareholder meeting of American Outdoor, Inc. (formally Smith and Wesson). The resolution requires American Outdoor Brands to create a report on the risks of their product and whether the company is adequately addressing the risk.
“This is a seismic shift amongst investors, including some of the largest in the world, BlackRock and Vanguard, flexing their muscle and holding the uniquely unregulated gun companies and their executives accountable in the absence ofsensible federal gun regulation” said John Rosenthal, founder of Stop Handgun Violence.
“This is especially significant for American Outdoor Brands who marches in lock step with the NRA but who operates in Massachusetts, the state with the most effective gun laws, the lowest gun deaths and the first in the nation consumer safety manufacturing and marketing standards that regulate guns sold in the State. However, American Outdoor Brands and other Massachusetts gun companies make and distribute more guns than any state in the Nation. Ironically, American Outdoor Brands is also prohibited from selling most of the guns they now make in their home state because they violate the Massachusetts assault weapons ban and consumer protection standards.
“Other states are beginning to take notice of Massachusetts’ effective gun laws and recognizing that it is the safest state with respect to gun violence and deaths. If American Outdoor Brands and other Massachusetts gun manufacturers want to capitalize on this sea change, they should change their business practices by dumping the manufacture and sale of assault weapons and developing smart gun technology. Not only will they save lives, they will create jobs and thrive economically.”
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Stop Handgun Violence (SHV) is a Massachusetts based non-profit organization committed to the prevention of gun violence through education, public awareness, effective law enforcement and common-sense gun laws. SHV has been the lead advocate in Massachusetts for enactment of the most effective gun violence prevention laws and first in the nation consumer protection regulations. The organization does not seek to restrict Constitutional rights but advocates only for common sense legislation that will help save lives. For more information, go to www.stophandgunviolence.org