Pittsburgh Mayor
Presents DICK’S CEO an Award for Gun Control Advocacy
NRA-ILA
Friday, June 14, 2019
On June 4-5, the annual Yale Mayors College & CEO
Summit was held in New York City. The theme of this year’s CEO Summit
was “Trumpeting the Issues without
Becoming the Issue: Selective Use of CEO Voice.” Making clear that
much of the event was about corporate virtue signaling strategy, “Session 2” on
the June 4 agenda was titled,
“The Courage to Stand Alone: CEO Voice & Virtue.”
With the promotion of virtue-signaling the goal, Yale
secured its two finest practitioners in their respective fields. At the event,
Pittsburgh Mayor William Peduto presented DICK’S Sporting Goods CEO Edward
Stack with the “Maverick in Leadership Award.” According to a press release from
Peduto’s office, the award was for Stack’s “work on behalf of common-sense gun
safety measures.”
Peduto presented the award alongside Ethan Allen CEO Farooq
Kathwari. History buffs will note the irony attendant to the CEO of
a company that trades off the name of an American Revolutionary War patriot
promoting gun control.
The choice of Peduto to present the award to Stack was
inspired. In his pursuit of gun control, Peduto has breached his duty to the
public by advocating for local anti-gun measures that are illegal under
Pennsylvania law. It can be argued
that Stack has deviated from his duty to shareholders in order to indulge his
political predilections.
In December, Peduto’s office proposed a raft of
local gun control ordinances in violation of Pennsylvania’s
firearms preemption law. The relevant statute (18 Pa.C.S.A. § 6120)
makes clear,
No county, municipality or township may in any manner
regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of
firearms, ammunition or ammunition components when carried or transported for
purposes not prohibited by the laws of this Commonwealth.
Moreover, the matter of local gun ordinances had already
been settled by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In a 1996 case involving a
local ordinance that restricted commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms, Ortiz
v. Pennsylvania, the court determined,
Because the ownership of firearms is constitutionally
protected, its regulation is a matter of statewide concern. The constitution
does not provide that the right to bear arms shall not be questioned in any
part of the commonwealth except Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, where it
may be abridged at will, but that it shall not be questioned in any part of the
commonwealth. Thus, regulation of firearms is a matter of concern in all of
Pennsylvania, not merely in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the General
Assembly, not city councils, is the proper forum for the imposition of such
regulation.
Despite the statute and clear precedent, in April Peduto
signed legislation restricting the “use” of commonly-owned semi-automatic
firearms and standard capacity magazines within the city. NRA immediately filed suit against
Pittsburgh to vindicate city residents’ rights.
In February 2018, Stack announced
that DICK’S and its affiliated Field & Stream stores (no relation to the
publication of the same name) would stop selling commonly-owned semi-automatic
rifles and would no longer sell any firearms to young adults ages 18-20. Stack
also made clear that DICK’S would encourage lawmakers to pass a host of gun
control measures, including a ban on commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms and
standard capacity magazines, a ban on firearm sales to young adults ages 18-20,
and the criminalization of private firearm transfers. The company went on to destroy its
existing stock of commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms and hire corporate lobbyists
to push its anti-gun agenda.
While Stack’s subsequent appearances in the national media might have boosted his ego,
the CEO’s gun control push didn’t boost his company’s bottom line. In August
2018, DICK’S blamed sluggish sales partly on, “negative reactions to our
policies related to the sale of firearms and accessories.” In December, DICK’S noted that
it may close its hunting and fishing-focused Field & Stream stores. In
March, DICK’S announced
that it would stop selling firearms entirely in 125 of its stores. Later that
month, Bloomberg reported
that “Dick’s estimates the policy change cost the company about $150 million in
lost sales...”
Given the acclamation Peduto’s anarchic behavior has
received in the legacy press and gun control circles, look for the lawless
mayor to receive some dubious “award” for his gun control advocacy in the
coming months. Hopefully Stack will be on hand to present the award and
complete the promise of this mutual admiration society. With their haphazard
attack-gun-rights-at-all-costs approach, Peduto and Stack deserve each other.
Sadly, their constituents and shareholders don’t deserve either.
…
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