Amended  IN  Senate  September 06, 2019

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Concurrent Resolution
No. 115

Introduced by Assembly Member Kamlager-Dove
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Daly, Eggman, Friedman, Gabriel, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Grayson, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O’Donnell, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Rendon, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Blanca Rubio, Santiago, Mark Stone, Ting, Wicks, and Wood)

July 05, 2019

Relative to gun-related businesses.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


ACR 115, as amended, Kamlager-Dove. Lending to gun-related businesses.
This measure would call upon banks that have open demand accounts with urge each bank with which the State of California has a business relationship to evaluate their relationships its commercial relationship with gun manufacturers, manufacturers and to consider the repercussions of those relationships, that relationship, and urge all banks to adopt lending practices that mirror the people of California’s values of protecting citizens before profit.
Fiscal Committee: NO  
WHEREAS, According to the Pew Research Center, 53 percent of Americans believe that the ease with which people legally can obtain guns contributes to the gun violence epidemic in America, and 47 percent believe that if it were more difficult for people to legally obtain guns there would be fewer mass shootings; and
WHEREAS, The California Department of Justice reported 2,516,836 known firearm owners as of January 1, 2019, showing a 171-percent increase in known firearm ownership since 2008; and

WHEREAS, The State of California has eight demand accounts open, which are accounts that the depositor can withdraw from without warning or with fewer than seven days’ notice; and

WHEREAS, The State of California has demand deposit accounts with the following six banks that concurrently lend to gun manufacturers: banking subsidiaries of Bank of America, Citibank, America Corporation, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Union Bank MUFG, U.S. Bank, Bancorp, and Wells Fargo & Co.; Co., among others; and

WHEREAS, The advocacy group, Guns Down America, “graded” banks based on their relationships to firearm makers and lobby groups like the National Rifle Association. Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., received a failing grade of F, and Bank of America and Citibank received C and B grades respectively; and

WHEREAS, Bank of America has reconsidered its relationship with gun manufacturers and thus has limited its number of clients that manufacture assault weapons for nonmilitary use to understand what they can contribute to the shared responsibility of gun reform; and

WHEREAS, Four of the nation’s largest gun manufacturers, Remington Outdoor Company, Smith & Wesson, Sturm, Ruger, & Co., and Vista Outdoors, that manufactured guns involved in mass shootings such as New Life Church, Aurora, Colorado, Sutherland Springs Church, Sandy Hook Elementary School, and Columbine High School, are lendees customers of banks that with which the State of California concurrently has open demand accounts with; has had, or has, a business relationship; and
WHEREAS, Bank of America has reconsidered its relationship with gun manufacturers and thus has limited its number of clients that manufacture assault weapons for nonmilitary use demonstrating an understanding of what it can contribute to meeting the shared responsibility for gun reform; and
WHEREAS, Citibank, one of America’s largest banks, served as an exemplar for gun policies by adopting a policy prohibiting the sales of firearms by its business customers to individuals who have not passed a background check or are younger than 21 years of age, and bars the sale of bump stocks and high-capacity magazines, to promote gun safety for communities; and

WHEREAS, Fifth Third Bank has discontinued its line of credit to Spike’s Tactical, a gun manufacturer based in the State of Florida which distributes military-style AR-15s for civilian use, to exit the sector for gun-related businesses; and

WHEREAS, A group of investors and financial managers such as managers, including the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), State Street Global Advisors, San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System, and nine others, with assets equal to 4,800,000,000,000 dollars, $4.8 trillion, have come together to ask the civilian firearms industry to comply with five principles that include safer and more traceable technology, adoption of responsible dealer practices, the establishment of complete background checks, and education and training of employees at distributors; and
WHEREAS, Former California State Treasurer, John Chiang, called on CalPERS and CalSTRS board members to divest the pension fund’s holdings in wholesalers or retailers of banned assault weapons in California; and
WHEREAS, CalSTRS, in order to be consistent with their its values, divested from Remington Outdoor Company in 2015, a banned gun manufacturer in California; 2015; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature urges banks that have open demand accounts with each bank with which the State of California has a business relationship to evaluate their relationships its relationship with gun manufacturers and consider the repercussions of gun violence: violence; and be it further
Resolved, That the Legislature urges all banks that have open demand accounts with the State of California to adopt lending practices that mirror the people of California’s values of protecting citizens before profit, and commit to strengthening gun policies or exiting the gun sector; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.