The $46.6 billion pension fund for New York City schoolteachers has sold its stock in companies that make guns and ammunition, city officials announced Friday, the Associated Press reports. City Comptroller John Liu said the Dec. 14 school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., prompted the fund’s board of trustees to review the system’s investments in the gun industry. He said the board concluded that divestment would be consistent with the fund’s fiduciary standards and overall investment process.
“There is no need to support these companies, whose products can destroy lives and shatter communities in the blink of an eye,” Liu said. “Our investment portfolio gains nothing by doing business with these firms, and this is a sound decision that sends an important message about our commitment to addressing the plague of gun violence in every possible way.”