Corporate Social Activism: To Speak Up—or Not?

A shareholder proposal during gun maker Sturm, Ruger & Co.’s annual meeting was met with votes (68.5 percent) in favor on June 1, a week after 21 people, including 19 children, died and 17 others were injured at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, at the hands of a gunman. The proposal asked Ruger to hire a third party to investigate the impact of the company and its products on human rights.

Ruger was not the manufacturer of the gun used in Uvalde, Texas. But its shareholders wanted to see change after seeing 232 mass shootings in the United States in the first five months of this year alone—more than one shooting per day, on average. Stakeholders, including shareholders, are paying attention to current events...

Mandy Wright is senior editor of Directorship magazine.