Democrats and their gun money

Rahm Emanuel also appears to have profited from the gun industry. According to his latest available disclosure forms, for calendar year 2009, when he was White House chief of staff, he had up to $15,000 in the JP Morgan Market Expansion Index Fund. That fund is currently a major shareholder in Sturm, Ruger. The Chicago Tribune reported last week that Emanuel has asked Chicago’s city pension funds to examine whether they have investments in assault-weapons companies and, if they do, to divest. He also said he would “lead a charge of mayors across the country urging them to do the same.” When it comes to his own investments, though, it’s clear he may not always have acted according to the same priorities.

Senator Chris Coons (D., Del.), awarded an F by the NRA, has more than $30,000 in the Oppenheimer Main Street Small- and Mid-Cap Fund. That fund is a major shareholder in Smith and Wesson.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) also supports reinstatement of the assault-weapons ban. Klobuchar’s connection to the gun industry is through her husband, John Bessler, who has up to $50,000 in a Vanguard Small Cap Growth Index fund, which holds 1.15 percent of Sturm, Ruger’s total shares, making it the fund with the eighth-largest share in the company, according to Morningstar.com.