How it works
Getting started with Gun Free Funds
Methodology and companies we screen for
Gun Free Funds sources financial data from Morningstar, an investment research company. We use Morningstar’s mutual fund and stock data to analyze funds and find civilian firearm investments. Our database covers thousands of the most popular mutual funds, the type of investments most common in retirement plans like employer-offered 401(k)s.
Download dataset as spreadsheet
We update Invest Your Values data once a month. Each month, we use the most recent fund holdings data available from our data provider Morningstar. We also use the most recent versions of our various company lists. Any changes to the company lists or fund rating methodologies will be reflected below.
Current dataset: Feb 15, 2024
Description: February 2024 dataset. Screen list updates: Fossil Free Funds "Clean200™" screen updated to use latest Corporate Knights data (2024). Fossil Free Funds "Carbon Underground 200" screen updated to use latest Fossil Free Indexes data (2023 Q4). Prison Free Funds prison industry and border industry screens updated to use latest American Friends Service Committee data (Jan 2024).
How to make your investments match your values
Step one icon
1
Search for mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by name, ticker, or asset manager. Our database covers 3,000 stock funds available in the U.S.
Step two icon
2
See your results. For each fund, we track investments in companies that manufacture or retail firearms and ammunition for the civilian market, as well as a range of other environmental and social risks.
Step three icon
3
Look for cleaner options. Sort and compare to find funds that fit your investing needs.
Mutual funds

Mutual funds are baskets of stocks bundled together, sometimes hundreds or thousands of companies. They are some of the most popular investment products for retirement plans, because owning so many company stocks at once helps diversify investment risk. But unless you're a financial professional, it can be difficult to find out just what companies are inside the funds you're invested in. That's where we come in. We examine every holding in thousands of funds to determine if there are investments in gun stocks.

Sustainable investing

Some funds actively choose to invest responsibly, by considering environmental or social issues when choosing companies to invest in. If you're thinking about weapon free investing, socially responsible funds can be a good place to start, because they often deliberately avoid companies that make civilian firearms. We feature nearly a hundred socially responsible funds in our database.

Sustainable investing can offer competitive returns

While people may become interested in responsible investing because of personal values and goals, that doesn't mean they're not looking for a competitive financial return on their investments. Fortunately, the evidence is clear: sustainable and responsible investors do not have to pay more to align their investments with their values, or to avoid companies with poor environmental, social or governance practices. The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment has collected the research.

Finding a fund

Gun Free Funds sources financial data on equities and mutual funds from Morningstar. Our database contains information on thousands of U.S. open-end and exchange traded mutual funds, some of the most common funds held in 401(k)s, 403(b)s, and other retirement plans.

Search for mutual funds using name, ticker symbol, or asset manager. Use the search page to filter funds by investing style, fund family, and more. When you find a fund you're looking for, click on it to see the full results.

We don't have everything in our database — we only screen mutual funds that own direct stock investments, and can only display up to 3,000. Looking for your favorite fund and can’t find it? With more resources, we could include more funds — make a gift today to make a difference.

Screening a fund

For each mutual fund in our database, we examine every holding and determine if it is a stock issued by a gun manufacturer or a gun retailer.

We only look for direct stock holdings in gun companies. That means that holdings that are not stocks, like corporate bonds, are not analyzed. In the fund's investment profile, we show a "Percent Rated" metric, equivalent to the percent of the fund that is invested in stocks. The higher a fund’s Percent Rated value, the more holdings we were able to examine. A fund with a lower Percent Rated value may have hidden gun-related investments that our tool cannot account for, in the form of bond holdings or other asset types.

If a fund holds stock in a gun company

We use two different gun company categories, grouped into two screens.

We calculate the fund's gun grade

Mutual funds can have a varying number of holdings, from less than one hundred to several thousand. We calculate the total number of flagged holdings in the fund, and the total amount and percentage of the fund’s assets that are invested in those companies.

Based on what companies a fund owns, it is assigned one of five civilian firearm grades.

A

No holdings flagged for our civilian firearm screens. Assigned a grade of A.

B

Fund is invested in civilian firearm retailers, but no holdings flagged for our civilian firearm manufacturers screen. Assigned a grade of B.

C

Fund is invested in civilian firearm manufacturers, below the threshold of 0.1%. Assigned a grade of C.

D

Fund is invested in civilian firearm manufacturers, above the threshold of 0.1% and below 0.4%. Assigned a grade of D.

F

Fund is invested in civilian firearm manufacturers, above the threshold of 0.4%. Assigned a grade of F.

These thresholds reflect the distribution of results across funds, placing an approximately equal number of funds from the analysis universe in the C, D, and F grade ranges.

If a fund has direct stock investments in gun manufacturers or major gun retailers, you'll see a chart like this, showing the overall exposure.

Chart for fund that owns stock in gun companies

Next to the chart, you'll see the exposure breakdown for each of the gun categories.

Breakdown of gun exposure for each of the gun categories

If you click a category that a fund has exposure to, you'll see the breakdown of the individual companies in that category that the fund owns.

Chart for a single gun category
We track sustainable funds

We use Morningstar's "sustainability mandate" indicator to determine which funds are displayed as socially responsible. Funds with sustainability mandates often make investment decisions based on issues like environmental responsibility, human rights, or religious views. A socially responsible fund may take a proactive stance by selectively investing in, for example, environmentally-friendly companies, or firms with good employee relations. They may also avoid investing in companies involved in promoting alcohol, tobacco, or firearms, or in the defense industry. Look for this symbol to find funds that are designated socially responsible.

Socially responsible fund

The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment is a group advancing sustainable, responsible, and impact investing. Asset managers who are members of US-SIF often have policies to exclude or restrict investments in companies involved in the production, licensing, and/or retailing of civilian firearms. Look for this symbol to find funds that are members of US-SIF.

Member of US-SIF, the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment
Gun free action toolkit

When you're done looking up funds and finding the data you need, what's next? You can learn how to make a change and move your money with our gun free action toolkit. Whether you’re an individual investor or if your investments are in your employer-sponsored plan at work, our step-by-step toolkit can help. There's an in-depth guide to responsible investing, links to external resources, a sample letter to send to your employer 401(k) manager, and more — everything you need to make a change and get started investing your money gun free.

Find sustainably-invested mutual funds and ETFs



Search for funds from your 401(k), retirement plan, or personal portfolio
More from Invest Your Values
See how mutual funds and ETFs are rated on issues ranging from fossil fuels, to deforestation, gender equality, guns, prisons, weapons, and tobacco

Disclaimer: As You Sow is not an investment adviser

As You Sow is not an investment adviser as that term is defined under federal and state (California) laws and regulations. As You Sow is a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and empowering shareholders to change corporations for the good through the collection, analysis and dissemination of relevant information to the public, free of charge. As You Sow does not provide financial planning, legal or tax advice. Nothing on this website shall constitute or be construed as an offering of financial instruments, or as investment advice or investment recommendations.
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