OPINION: Divesting from Wal-Mart

August 4, 2015 By Public Advocate Letitia James For Brooklyn Daily Eagle

New York City Public Advocate Letitia James. Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese

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On Jan. 8, 2011, Jared Lee Loughner walked into a Wal-Mart and purchased gun ammunition. Within three hours of this purchase at a local Wal-Mart, he opened fire and callously murdered six individuals and severely injured 13 others — including former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

More recently, on July 11, 2015, Mohammad Abdulazeez went to a Wal-Mart and purchased ammunition. Five days later, in what is being called a domestic act of terrorism, he killed four U.S. Marines and one U.S. Navy Sailor at a Navy Reserve center in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

These incidents exemplify our nation’s gun crisis. There are 33,000 deaths from firearms in the U.S. every year. And in the first weekend in August in New York City, three people were killed and 16 were wounded due to gun violence. This is also a crisis that acutely affects the African-American community: African-Americans are twice as likely to die from guns compared to their white counterparts, and the murder rate for African-Americans is four times as high as the national average.

As the nation’s largest retailer of guns and ammunition, Wal-Mart’s contribution to these tragedies is clear. But what many New Yorkers may not know is that their public pension dollars are helping support Wal-Mart as it peddles weapons of death across the country.

That’s why, as a trustee of the New York City Retirement System (NYCERS), I am calling for all five of the city’s pension boards to immediately divest all funds from Wal-Mart. And I am proud to say that NYCERS, the city’s largest pension fund, has begun the divestment process by overwhelmingly passing my resolution at our most recent board meeting.

Wal-Mart actively promotes the sale of guns. Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon has called the “sporting and outdoors” section an integral part of the store’s business and said that he would continue selling guns. Wal-Mart hides behind the illusion of guns for sport, but Wal-Mart sells everything from hunting rifles to assault weapons to high capacity magazines.

These weapons have no place in our society, and I refuse to believe that any civilian has business owning an AR-15 or an AK-47. There is no reason for a civilian to need tactical gear fit for the military. But Wal-Mart’s reckless promotion of guns does not end with their sale; Wal-Mart’s support of guns is deeply engrained in their company’s ethos.

Wal-Mart has an extensive history of donating millions to political candidates favored by the National Rifle Association. Prior to increased public scrutiny, Wal-Mart supported the American Legislative Exchange Council — a conservative advocacy group that actively opposes sensible gun reform and who played a direct role in drafting Florida’s infamous “Stand Your Ground” law.

A company that actively sells and supports guns has no place in our community. Our pension dollars should reflect our values and not bolster Wal-Mart’s dominance. New York City must divest the hundreds of millions of dollars it has invested in Wal-Mart, dollars that are fueling violence and undermining the greater public interest.

As the public advocate, but most importantly as a New Yorker, I will continue to do everything in my power to keep guns off our streets. Part of this means stopping our city’s support of gun retailers, starting with Wal-Mart. Together, we can make our community safer and our city’s investments more responsible.