Displaying items by tag: guns

(New York)

Gun stocks may be in for a deep fall. For many years gunmakers have been protected by a legal precedent which keeps them from being held liable in cases of gun violence. However, a novel new argument in a court case may bring that crashing down. Families of the victims in the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012 have brought a case against Remington which argues that the gunmaker should be held liable because it made the choice to distribute its rifles to a dealer who illegally sold weapons. Essentially, the case holds Remington liable for its distribution channels.

FINSUM: If this argument holds it would defeat the 2005 precedent that has protected gunmakers and open the door to unknown levels of legal action.

(New York)

Unfortunately, there have been many school shootings and other massacres over the last few years. Each of them was followed by a brief outcry to increase gun regulation, to which there was no government response. However, something feels different this time around, and President Trump is moving to tighten some gun rules. Now it might be Wall Street’s turn to step back, as big asset managers such as BlackRock are looking at ways to strip gun companies out of the portfolios of clients who do not want to invest in them. Gun sector stocks have slumped badly since Trump’s election, mostly because the threat of new regulation—which drives gun sales—seems to be gone.

FINSUM: We are very unsure of how things will proceed here, but we can say that there does seem to be increasing political momentum towards more gun control for the first time in many years), which could influence Wall Street.