An online petition calls on Kalamazoo County, the city of Kalamazoo and the state of Michigan to divest any public funds from gun and ammunition manufacturers.
One of the petition organizers, Sarah Hill, says it’s part of a national movement. She says there’s a long history of divestment movements related to tobacco and Apartheid in South Africa.
Kalamazoo County Commissioner Kevin Wordelman says there is little chance for any meaningful change in gun regulations at the state or national level. The Democratic commissioner says he hasn’t investigated whether the county has investments in gun companies. But Wordelman says it’s likely.
“When I see a social problem like I believe gun violence is the first question I ask is who benefits?”
Wordelman says the gun makers profit from the fear that follows a high profile incident like the shooting in Kalamazoo on February 20th. He says there is at least anecdotal evidence of an increase in gun sales and requests for permits to carry a weapon.
Hill says
“If the gun manufacturers had less money to play with to market guns, then they couldn’t whip up people’s anxieties after a shooting.”
While safety is given as a reason for purchasing a gun, Wordelman says the companies that make guns and ammunition benefit from the perception that people are safer when they have a gun.
But he says statistically people are not safer with a firearm. Wordelman says the companies are also using the money from gun sales to lobby against “common sense regulations on guns.”
