GE Capital has decided to stop loaning money to mom-and-pop gun retailers.
LA Times
With gun-control efforts bogged down in Washington, a handful of companies such as GE Capital are gingerly stepping into the breach.
GE Capital, the huge financing arm of General Electric Co., has stopped making loans to gun shops, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The company will continue to lend to diversified businesses that sell firearms, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods. But it will cut off financing for scores of mom-and-pop gun retailers around the country, according to the story.
Other corporate and investment entities have made moves away from the gun trade.
The investment committee of the California Public Employees' Retirement System voted in February to sell its shares of Smith & Wesson Holding Corp. and Sturm, Ruger & Co.
Private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management earlier announced plans to sell the gun manufacturer it owns.
Those actions are unlikely to have a significant effect on the powerful and sprawling gun industry. But they could carry a symbolic weight if others in the business world take similar steps.