Goldman Sachs bankers, to arms!

December 3, 2009 | By Jim Kim

Granted, Goldman Sachs has endured some public abuse as of late, but has it come to the point that Goldman Sachs bankers need to arm themselves? A Bloomberg column finds that "senior Goldman people" are buying guns to protect themselves. The New York Police Department told the columnist that it "believes some of the bankers" inquired about do indeed already have pistol permits. The NYPD said it will be a while before it can name names.

I'm not sure what to make of this. There have been a few protests at regional offices of Goldman Sachs and at the actual homes of a few AIG executives. But these staged "events" tend to be done more for the media than out of malice, but there may be things we do not know. I wouldn't be surprised if the company hasn't fielded some threats, but I would be surprised if any were credible. In any case, the company can take no chances. It needs to protect its employees. I just wonder whether nervous bankers packing heat will make anyone really safer. You might be tempted to say that adding guns to this mix may do more harm than good.

For more:
- here's the column