R.I. to pull pension funds from gun makers, private prisons

PROVIDENCE — Building on a commitment made by his predecessor, General Treasurer Seth Magaziner plans to pull out any residual investments the $8.7-billion state pension fund has in gun makers, and specifically those that manufacture "assault-style weapons for civilian use.''

At a news conference on Wednesday where he was joined by state lawmakers and gun-control activists, Democrat Magaziner also announced the decision earlier in the day by the State Investment Commission, which he chairs, to end investments in companies that operate private prisons.

"Assault weapons and for-profit prisons have caused too much pain for countless Americans, including many Rhode Islanders,” he said. “The State Investment Commission is taking this action after careful consideration. With today’s decision, we can do the right thing without impacting the health of Rhode Island’s pension system.”

On the weapons front, the divestiture is aimed at the 2,200 shares, valued at $20,856, that the pension fund has in American Outdoor Brands and the 900 shares, valued at $92,916, in Sturm Ruger & Co. On the prison front, he cited  5,800 shares, valued at $92,916 in CoreCivic and the 4,700 shares, valued at $73,743, in the Geo Group.

Though Magaziner characterized the planned divestitures of investments in gun makers as a "first-of-its-kind decision by the State Investment Commission,'' it echoed a move instigated by former treasurer — and current governor — Gina Raimondo in December 2012, in the wake of a gunman's shooting rampage at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Police said 20-year-old Adam Lanza used a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle to kill 20 children and six adults at the school after shooting and killing his mother in their home.

Then-Treasurer Raimondo ordered a review of state pension-fund holdings in firearm and ammunition manufacturers and distributors, and she subsequently — on the cusp of announcing her first run for governor — asked the Investment Commission to sell the $7.6-billion Rhode Island pension fund's $20-million investment in Wellspring Capital Partners IV, a private equity fund with a $3.8-million stake in a gun distributor, United Sporting.

Despite these actions, Magaziner aide Evan England said Wednesday, the State Investment Commission never actually adopted a policy on investments in gun makers.

Magaziner, widely viewed as a likely candidate to replace the term-limited Raimondo in 2022, made his case in a statement issued by his office that said:

"Each year, 36,000 Americans die from gun violence, with mass shootings becoming increasingly frequent. The five deadliest mass shootings of the past decade all involved the use of assault weapons. Over that time period, when assault weapons were used in mass shootings, six times as many people were shot, as compared to mass shootings when there were no assault weapons."

Of banning investments in for-profit prisons, which have become a hot-button issue in Rhode Island over the incarceration of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees at the Donald W. Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, the statement said: "The business model of the for-profit prison industry creates corporate incentives for increasing the number of people who are incarcerated and cutting costs at the expense of the health and safety [of] incarcerated individuals and prison employees. ...

"Rhode Island state pension system has less than $250,000 total invested in affected investments, representing 0.003 percent of assets in the $8.7-billion pension fund. After the shares of these companies are sold, the proceeds will be reinvested across the broader market,'' Magaziner said.

To date, he said, "only three other state pension funds have taken similar action, with Rhode Island being the first to divest from both private prisons and assault-weapon manufacturers at the same time."

Magaziner invited Erica Keuter, of East Greenwich, a survivor of the October 2017 massacre of 58 Las Vegas concertgoers, to join him. Testifying before the Rhode Island House Judiciary Committee last spring, Keuter said: “One minute we were singing and laughing, and the next we were just trying to survive."

"If you take one thing away from my experience,” she told the lawmakers, “it’s that gun violence can happen anywhere, anytime, to anyone.”