New York-based gun manufacturer, Remington Arms is scheduled to announce today, that it will be opening up a factory in Alabama, becoming part of a growing nationwide trend of gun makers leaving an anti-gun state for a pro-arms one. The move is predicted to create around 2,000 vacancies with an economic influence tallying up to $87 million according to Yellowhammer News.
Even though the New York factory owned by Remington Arms will stay open in New York, it is believed that the workforce will be decreased. “The company is making the move as an expansion of capacity, production and research,” an unknown source told Yellowhammer News. Since 1816, Remington Arms has been calling Ilion, New York its home with around 1,200 people being employed there. Instead though, thousands of open spots are expected to disappear from the Empire State and head down to Dixie, Alabama.
[amazon asin=B005WO9AMI&template=*lrc ad (left)]Moves like this though are becoming less unusual and more common. After the Sandy Hook incident, for instance, a wide variety of states went on to restrict the possession or manufacturing of firearms. Colorado made up a set of policies which made it illegal to sell off magazines holding over 15 rounds in them.
Additionally, as recalled by two state policymakers who voted in favor of such measures, it also left a profound effect on Magpul Industries, in turn forcing it to get out of Colorado. PTR Industries got out of Connecticut for South Carolina and Kahr Firearms booked it out of New York to set up shop in gun friendly Pennsylvania. Another firm, Stag Arms also mentioned that it will expand its business outside of the state of Connecticut.
Big names in guns like Sturm, Ruger, and Smith & Wesson Holding are taking firm stances due to the current influx of policy changes. For instance, Ruger is setting out to expand its empire for the first time in 25 years and it [amazon asin=B006YM694E&template=*lrc ad (right)]will not be in Connecticut, its headquarters since 1949. Instead, the company is choosing North Carolina. The other two arms companies—Ruger and Smith & Wesson—will discontinue their semiautomatic weaponry because of the state’s new law where it is necessary to get “microstamping”, a unique set of digits on the firing pin that gets “stamped” onto a bullet when it is fired off.
After Remington Arms publicly announced its $20 million dollar deal in Ilion a year ago upon receiving an $80 million Defense Department contract, the latest words about gun owners from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo have been unforgettable. In Cuomo’s state address alone last year, he called some firearm owners “extremists” who might see their legal arms taken away from them. Earlier on this month, he even compared “assault weapon” owners as extremists and claimed they had “no place in the state of New York”.
[amazon asin=B000Q28HBQ&template=*lrc ad (left)]Stag Arms has now introduced a “New York-compliant” AR-15 that is a little bit different than the traditional model in order to comply with the state’s policies. The company also offers customers different types of configurations on other rifles to abide by other state policies. To illustrate, it added on a “bullet button” to one of its weapons that uses the top part of the bullet to push out an empty magazine to comply with California’s ban on detachable magazines that are taken out by a person using their finger.
Factors like this could be very good reasons as to why manufacturers are packing up their enterprises and escaping to states that are nicer to their sectors of business. It is believed that the Remington 870 shotgun is one of the best shotguns to ever be made, with over 10 million being sold since coming out in 1951. The shotgun is certainly a popular pick. However, with the decrease in workforce in New York, Remington will now become Alabama’s legacy as it welcomes the firm with open arms. The door is bursting open for other gun makers to set up shop in states that are far friendlier to their line of work.
Reprinted from The Voice of Russia.
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