American Outdoor Brands Corp., the parent of Smith & Wesson and other brands in the shooting space, defended its safety efforts in a letter to asset manager BlackRock Inc. posted on its website.
On Friday, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said it would reexamine its holdings in both gun makers and gun retailers following a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, on February 14, and that it would vote against directors or vote to support shareholder proposals if its engagement efforts with management were less than satisfactory. BlackRock sent a letter to American Outdoor Brands to meet to talk about business practices and firearm safety.
In its response, the leaders of American Outdoor Brands wrote in part the company supports “a comprehensive discussion regarding preventing violence in our communities, and we are committed to reviewing all reasonable proposals with an open mind. However, we also believe that the first course of action must be to enforce existing laws, address the challenges of acute mental illness in our society and improve the NICS background check system.”
Barry Monheit, chairman and James Debney, president and CEO, also wrote that “the solution is not to take a politically motivated action” that may impact jobs, economic activity and the rights of gun owners “but results in no increase in public safety.”
The two concluded, “We must collectively have the courage to ensure any actions are guided by data, by facts, and by what will actually make us safer, not by what is easy, expedient or reads well in a headline.”
Ms. Michelle Edkins
Global Head of BlackRock Investment Stewardship
Ms. Yumi Narita
BlackRock Investment Stewardship
Dear Ms. Edkins and Ms. Narita:
We are in receipt of your letter dated March 1, 2018, requesting a meeting with us during which you may ask a series of questions, many of which have been publicly posted. Please accept this letter, and its attachments, as a written reply to those questions. This information can also be found on our website at www.aob.com under the investor relations tab. As you review the contents of this reply, we believe it is important to tell you that we respect the national debate that is currently underway regarding firearms and safety. We share the nation’s grief over the incomprehensible and senseless loss of life at Parkland, Florida, and we share the desire to make our communities safer. Through our membership and work with the National Shooting Sports Foundation, we will continue to support the development of effective solutions that accomplish that objective while protecting the rights of the law-abiding firearm owner.
We are a proud and law-abiding company that is rooted in the history of America–a country built on the freedoms and processes that we all treasure. As such, we support a comprehensive discussion regarding preventing violence in our communities, and we are committed to reviewing all reasonable proposals with an open mind. However, we also believe that the first course of action must be to enforce existing laws, address the challenges of acute mental illness in our society and improve the NICS background check system, the very purpose of which is to prevent unauthorized access to firearms by irresponsible persons and those not legally qualified to possess them.
The solution is not to take a politically motivated action that has an adverse impact on our company, our employees, our industry, our shareholders, the economies we support and significantly, the rights of our law abiding customers, but results in no increase in public safety. We must collectively have the courage to ensure any actions are guided by data, by facts, and by what will actually make us safer, not by what is easy, expedient or reads well in a headline.
Respectfully,
Barry M. Monheit,Chairman of the Board
James Debney, President & CEO
Photo courtesy Smith & Wesson
