GE Capital Pulls The Plug On Lending To Gun Retailers


rifleshooter474

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GE Capital Pulls The Plug On Lending To Gun Retailers - Forbes

General Electric GE +1.18%‘s finance arm says it
will stop lending to gun stores, making it the latest company to highlight its stance on firearms in the wake of the deadly Sandy Hook shooting.

GE Capital will pull the plug on lending to fewer than 75 retailers, says spokesman Russell Wilkerson. It already halted lending to some gun merchants in 2008, he explains, and after a “more rigorous audit process in our sporting goods segment in light of industry changes, new legislation and tragic events that have caused widespread reexamination of policies on firearms,” GE uncovered more businesses that sold too many guns for its comfort.
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So, chalk up another corporation with a conscience problem.

Tiger Global Management, arguably the world’s hottest hedge fund, quietly sold its gun stock after Sandy Hook.

Investor pressure forced Cerberus Capital Management to put up its stake in Freedom Group, the nation’s largest long-gun maker and the company that produced the semi-automatic rifle used at Sandy Hook. Cerebus’ move to divest the Freedom Group appears more lip service than actual conviction though — founder Stephen Feinberg, has reportedly considered personally buying Freedom Group, a move that would certainly raise uncomfortable questions.

For GE, the death toll at Sandy Hook hit too close to home. The conglomerate’s headquarters are in Fairfield, Conn., a short 35-minute drive south across the state’s countryside. The Wall Street Journal, which originally reported Wednesday’s news, made an additional connection between GE and Sandy Hook: the father of the shooter, Peter Lanza, is a GE Capital executive.

GE will continue to lend to other businesses that sell firearms, including Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest seller of firearms and ammunition, and ****'s Sporting Goods DKS -0.44%.

GE’s finance arm is today the fifth largest commercial-lending entity in the country–accounting for 31% of GE’s total revenue last year ($45.7 billion) as it doled out $107 billion in loans–by delving into niche markets unoccupied by the larger financial institutions.

The Journal reports Wells Fargo stopped financing gun businesses 10 years ago, and Bank of America halted in 2008. Citigroup simply said it doesn’t finance such loans, without supplying a date.

Reach Abram Brown at [email protected].
 

Who cares?
As a business they have every right to invest as they see fit. Just as Chic-fil-A is free to make politically charged statements, so too is GE Capital. The firearms industry is very large and very profitable, other lenders will be more than happy to pick up the profits.
 
And some/most gun shops don't need financing. Terms from the distributors is between 20 & 30 days and an established business can cover that with no sweat.
 

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