Procurement & Gun Control

Eliot Spitzer and New York City lawyer Peter Pope have a provocative piece in yesterday's Slate arguing that the federal government should use its clout as a gun buyer to encourage good behavior, including product controls, by gun dealers and manufacturers. It's an interesting position, that seems to run into two challenges. First, I don't know how it's even possible to enforce every place guns are sold and resold: Spitzer and Pope's standard might not be meetable, and would impose a significant burden on procurement officials. Second, there are important questions that should be asked about using federal purchasing power for political ends. One reason the Thrift Savings Plan is comparatively strong is because the fiduciaries have avoided politically entangled funds like Real Estate Investment Trusts. Procurement officials should be thinking, first and foremost, about quality and price. Some political considerations, like whether women or minorities own the businesses that get contracts, may make sense. But using contracts to achieve larger social goals may not.