Teachers' Pensions Invested in Newtown Shooting Gun Manufacturer

Something else to focus on besides their dismal returns

When the California State Teachers Retirement System invested in 2003 and 2007 into a private equity firm bankrolling the manufacturer of Bushmaster firearms, the state pension fund should have known the brand's history.

In October 2002, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo used a Bushmaster rifle in the Beltway sniper attacks that killed 10 people and injured three others.

But CalSTRS invested anyway, despite a "Statement of Investment Responsibility" that explicitly says the pension fund will not invest in concerns that "facilitate social injury."