New York City's Trinity Church, one of the wealthiest churches in the world with over
$2 billion in real estate holdings, is taking on Walmart by using their status as a
shareholder:
The church’s rector, Rev. Dr. James Cooper, says he isn’t
seeking a ban on the sale of assault weapons at Walmart. Rather, he’s
fighting to force the world’s largest retailer to include a shareholder
proposal in this April’s proxy materials, to be voted on at this
summer’s annual meeting.
Trinity’s proposal would require Walmart’s board to oversee the sale
of “products that especially endanger public safety and well-being, risk
impairing the company’s reputation, or offend the family and community
values integral to the company’s brand,” as the document first filed
with the Security and Exchange Commission last year reads.
The action to move Walmart to more oversight was taken after
parishioners expressed outrage in the wake of recent mass shootings.
Rev. Cooper began doing research:
Davis was keen to learn how the retailer decides, for
instance, that it won’t sell CDs with Parental Advisory warning labels,
but will sell assault rifles with the capacity for 30 rounds of
ammunition.
“If it were a video with somebody shooting up a school, or a rap song
with somebody talking about shooting up a school, they wouldn’t sell
it,” he said. “So why sell the gun? It doesn’t make sense.”
Seems simple enough. But, Walmart intends to continue fighting to keep the proposal
out of shareholder material: READ MORE
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