The pension funds of Massachusetts and Connecticut have joined New York and a growing number of states and municipalities questioning their investments in the firearms industry in the days since the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Massachusetts treasurer Steve Grossman said the move was motivated by “the physical, emotional and moral outrage, the outpouring of emotion” of the massacre perpetuated by 20-year-old Adam Lanza primarily with a legal .223 Bushmaster rifle.
Officials in Connecticut, where Friday’s tragedy occurred, also said they ordered a review of their investments.
The moves add further pressure on the firearms sector that has been besieged with outrage over the past five days and the threat of new regulations.
Cerberus Capital Management already said it would sell off its $900 million Freedom Group, the maker of Bushmaster rifles and other guns.
But the weapons remain popular with customers. Walmart sold out of five types of semiautomatic rifles, including the one used in the mass slaying, in five states, Bloomberg News reported.