So Goldman bankers are not swapping their Rolex’s for revolvers in preparation for a populist uprising, as reported in a Bloomberg comment piece last week.
Unsurprisingly, the idea of gun-weilding banker boys, probably with little past experience of firearms, running amok in New York city struck fear into the hearts of many, and the story went viral across the financial and political blogosphere.
We can all breath a sigh of relief on Thursday, however.
According to the WSJ Deal Journal — Goldman bankers are not packing heat:
In a widely-circulated Bloomberg News commentary piece, columnist Alice Schroeder said that she was told New York-based Goldman bankers were loading up on fire arms and “are now equipped to defend themselves if there is a populist uprising against the bank.”
The “New York Police Department has told me that ‘as a preliminary matter’ it believes some of the bankers I inquired about do have pistol permits. The NYPD also said it will be a while before it can name names,” Schroeder wrote.
The story caught the public imagination, making the rounds on the Internet and in tabloids. Goldman employees “are concerned about social unrest,” said Schroeder in a Bloomberg video. “They’re concerned about the fact that we’ve got a country where a quarter of the kids are on food stamps, and they’ve become an emblem, a symbol of greed.” (View the video of Schroeder here.)
New York police spokesman Paul J. Browne says that their records show only four Goldman employees have applied for gun permits in recent years – and the last application was made in 2003. That application, by the firm’s head of security for a “carry permit”, was granted. The only other employee granted a NYPD carry permit” is a building security guard. It was issued prior to 2003, said a police spokesman. Those applying for a permit must list their employer.
Two Goldman employees have residential permits, allowing them to have guns in their homes. The last of these permits was issued in 2001, Browne said. One of the permits was issued to a trader and the other was given to a graphic designer.
“We haven’t seen a surge of applications of any kind for Goldman Sachs employees,” said Browne.
. . .
Approximately 10,000 of Goldman’s roughly 30,000 employees work in New York City. What about Goldman bankers who commute to the city from states like Connecticut, but own hunting rifles or have been green-lighted for carry permits elsewhere? Mr. Browne says to carry a gun in New York City a person needs a carry permit from the NYPD, too.
Browne said he emailed Schroeder to set the record straight but hasn’t heard back. Schroeder did not return requests for comment. Bloomberg did not immediately respond to a comment request.
There you have it — the apocryphal Man with the Goldman Gun does not exist.
Does Bloomberg’s legendary correction policy?
Related links:
Goldman bankers and their (alleged) guns – FT Alphaville
Guns, Goldman Sachs and Bloomberg’s BS – Janet Tavakoli via HuffPo