State Treasurer Bill Lockyer today expanded his crusade to get CalPERS and CalSTRS out of the firearms business in the wake of the Connecticut elementary school shooting.
Lockyer already has called on the two big pension funds to divest their holdings in manufacturers of assault weapons that are banned in California.
Today Lockyer, who sits on the board of both funds, said he wants CalPERS and CalSTRS to unload their investments in makers of "high capacity magazines" outlawed in California.
He plans to introduce a motion on the subject at Wednesday's board meeting of CalSTRS, the California State Teachers' Retirement System.
It wasn't immediately clear how extensive those investments are. CalSTRS has invested $625 million with the company that owns Freedom Group. Freedom owns Bushmaster, maker of the gun used in Connecticut but outlawed in California.
Freedom's owner, Cerberus Capital Management, announced in December it was putting the business up for sale.
CalSTRS spokesman Mike Sicilia said the pension fund also has a total of $2.9 million invested in gun makers Sturm Ruger and Smith & Wesson.
But he doesn't know whether those companies make the "high capacity magazines" cited by Lockyer.
CalPERS spokesman Brad Pacheco said he didn't have immediate information on the fund's firearms investments.
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