Pension board meetings are usually dull events. But not on January 9, the day the teacher’s pension system told gun manufacturers to take a hike. The California State Teachers Retirement System – CalSTRS (“cal-stirs”) as it’s know by policy and financial geeks – took official action concerning guns by publically announcing its intention to dump gun manufacturers from its portfolio. This action came less than a month after the staff realized CalSTRS had invested in the company that made the gun used at Sandy Hook Elementary. CalSTRS, investments and a three-headed dog Pension funds invest in thousands of companies. They have to as part of their investment strategy –invest across the boar

Gun rights advocates have been on the defensive after the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn. last week, but that didn't stop one group in Sacramento from demonstrating their opposition to gun control in a way that was sure to get attention.  Sacramento police questioned and then released a group of men who walked down one of the city's busiest streets with shotguns over their shoulders Sunday evening. Two of the men in the group were carrying shotguns when police stopped them at 10th and J streets around 9:20 p.m., according to officer Michelle Gigante. They were found to be in compliance with current open carry laws as the guns were not loaded, Gigante said. One of the suspects told offic

The recent shootings in Colorado and Wisconsin have renewed the debate on how – and if – gun control laws should be changed, but one California lawmaker’s attempt to respond to tragedy has fallen short. A new bill from State Senator Leland Yee aimed at restricting assault weapons in California stopped short in the Assembly Appropriations Committee yesterday and won’t be revived until the next legislative session – if at all. The bill, SB249, would ban devices that allow magazines of ammunition to be reloaded so quickly that semiautomatic firearms can be fired almost like assault weapons, reports Jim Sanders in The Sacramento Bee, and Yee said he intends to see the proposal through. "My