ANN ARBOR, MI - As a national debate over gun control continues following a mass shooting that killed 17 people at a Florida high school, Washtenaw County leaders are taking steps to cease investment of pension funds in gun and ammo makers.

Commissioner Conan Smith, D-Ann Arbor, proposed the idea and County Board Chairman Andy LaBarre, D-Ann Arbor, authorized a resolution that won unanimous support from the county's pension board on Tuesday, Feb. 27, to begin the divestment process.

Smith and LaBarre both serve on the pension board, officially called the Washtenaw County Employees' Retirement Commission.

The approved resolution directs the county's staff to come up with a divestment plan.

Smith estimates the county's pension system has about $2.5 million invested in gun and ammo companies right now out of about $283 million in total investments.

"It is not a sum of money that on its own will make or break any of these companies. But we hope to be part of an expanding movement aimed at changing the policy priorities of these companies," Smith wrote in a public post on Facebook on Tuesday.

"Over the next several months, we will be reviewing our funds and our managers to better define our current investment load in gun and ammunition manufacturers and to lay out a policy and process to support divestment," Smith continued. "Alongside that, we will need to communicate to the companies our rationale for divestment and the policy priorities that we hope they would adopt. These companies are the backbone of the political and advocacy system that prevents gun-control measures from being adopted."

Smith said he hopes the county can help convince gun and ammo makers to support what he considers sensible gun-control policies, including the "re-regulation of firearms like the AR-15, which has been at the center up so much senseless violence in this country."

LaBarre called the county's steps toward divestment "modestly idealistic, but prudent."

He said the county isn't going to change the world, but if similar steps are taken by other investment funds throughout the nation, he believes it could have a real impact.

"I hope it's one drop in a bucket that causes some meaningful change," he said.

LaBarre said other county investments in addition to pension fund investments could be looked at as well.

"I would just emphasize that some of those, I believe, are under the jurisdiction of the treasurer, and some of those are under the jurisdiction of the (county retirement) system, so it's not like the county board can just snap their fingers and make that happen," he said.

In a perfect world, LaBarre said, gun manufacturers would make firearms that people could use for hunting and other non-lethal purposes, but not semi-automatic weapons, such as AR-15s that are routinely used in mass shootings in the United States.

Smith said this is not about stopping the manufacture of guns, but about trying to push for better policies regarding access to guns and how they're treated in society.

He noted the county, for example, is a purchaser of firearms for law enforcement officers via the Sheriff's Office.

"I recognized the role of firearms in our defense and for sport," he wrote in his post. "I certainly wish there were fewer of them in our society, but more I wish for and expect better regulation. By putting economic pressure on those most influential over the public policy we need, I hope we can collectively transform the debate."

Smith said it makes no sense to him why a weapon such as an AR-15, which was used in the Florida shooting, would be made available to a teenager, and he thinks that needs to be a policy discussion.

"It's just a horrendous piece of equipment," he said of the lethal damage it can cause.

Rather than allowing average citizens to keep such weapons in their closets, Smith suggested perhaps gun clubs could own them and make them available for those who want to shoot them for sport.