David Shapiro's Investments Called into Question

Incumbent Congressman Vern Buchanan is facing opposition from Democrat David Shapiro who’s looking to represent Florida’s 16^th congressional district. Shapiro’s so far posed himself as a candidate that’s seeking “a full ban on weapons of war.” However, a look into his financial disclosure shows that the candidate might be hypocritical.

With the new personal finance report filed with the Federal Elections Commission, the report showed that Shapiro has around $600,000 in investment funds that includes shares of Vista Outdoor Inc. and Olin Corp., which are two of the top ammunition and gun makers in the United States.

In addition to that, there are four funds that are currently in question, which are Ishares Russell 2000, Gateway GTEYX, Ishares Core S&P and Ishares Russell Mid-Cap. Said shares are index funds, which are a type of mutual fund that is intended to mirror the stock market either in part or as a whole.

In response to the uncovered investments, Shapiro’s campaign manager, Alex Vuskovic, commented that “There’s a big difference between weapons of war that have been used in too many school shootings and weapons for hunting and sporting. Anyone who can’t make that distinction would also be foolish enough to buy a $3.5M yacht the same day they voted for a tax bill handing themselves millions of dollars.”

This jab was is in reference to Buchanan buying a yacht the day he voted in favor of the House’s GOP tax plan.