Sturm Ruger shareholders approve resolution requiring report on gun violence

A coalition of faith-based investors has won approval from the shareholders at Sturm Ruger & Co., a leading gun manufacturer, requiring the company to release a report detailing the financial risk of gun violence. 

The company will now have to research and produce a report on the business and reputational risks associated with what they do, according to CNBC. 

The coalition included a group tied to the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, who had purchased a minority share in the company in order to mandate consideration of the resolution. 

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Though the company’s board advised against it, two major shareholders, Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, threw in their support to help the proposal gain a majority of votes at the company’s annual meeting on Wednesday. 

The coalition channeled the recent surge in gun activism across the country that began after a school shooting in Parkland, Fla., in February, which left 17 people dead.

“A new momentum has emerged over these last few months,” Catholic Health Initiatives Chief Advocacy Officer Colleen Scanlon told CNBC. “It’s so significant that a majority of shareholders are asking their company to consider gun safety.”

But the company’s CEO Christopher Killoy told BuzzFeed News on Wednesday that “what the proposal does not and cannot do is force us to change our business, which is lawful and constitutionally protected.”

“That’s it. A report,” he said. 

The group of activists has introduced a similar resolution at American Outdoor Brands, the parent company of Smith & Wesson, set for consideration in September.