BlackRock Targeted by Gay Activists for Investing in Firearms
- Group wants asset manager to divest stakes in gunmakers
- Firearms are cited in a majority of LGBT murders in the U.S.
BlackRock Inc. signage is displayed at 55 E. 52nd St.
Photographer: Scott Eells/BloombergGays Against Guns, a group formed days after the June massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando, will target BlackRock Inc. to kick off a campaign pressuring companies to cut ties with the firearms industry.
The group chose BlackRock because some funds run by the world’s biggest asset manager hold shares in Sturm Ruger & Co. and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., makers of guns used in previous mass shootings, said Tim Murphy, spokesman for the New York-based organization, which has affiliates in New Jersey, Los Angeles and Washington. Guns are linked to hate crimes against gay and transgender people, he said. Activists will borrow tactics from protest groups like Queer Nation and ActUp, which led the fight to draw attention to AIDS.