Another gun company may be planning to revolt by uprooting its business from a liberal state to move to one that is more respectful of the Second Amendment.
Colt’s Manufacturing is the latest firearm company to threaten to leave its home state because of arduous gun control proposals, meaning its 670 employees would either lose their jobs or be forced to relocate.
Located in Connecticut, the company has taken a lot of heat since the Sandy Hook shootings, Colt’s President and CEO Dennis Veilleux says.
After 175 years of doing business in Connecticut, Veilleux said he is considering packing up and taking his business elsewhere if the state passes the gun control legislation that’s currently on the table.
“At some point, if you can’t sell your products … then you can’t run your business,” Veilleux told FoxNews.com. “You need customers to buy your products to stay in business.”
The state legislature has already proposed an assault weapons ban, ammunition restrictions, a ban on buying handguns in bulk and a new gun offender registry — all endorsed by Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy.
The biggest deal breaker, Veilleux says, is if AR-15 rifles are banned, the company’s main product.
Colt is just one of many firearm companies finding their home states increasingly unwelcome because of gun control legislation. Beretta USA, the U.S. branch of the oldest firearms manufacturer in the world, may also close close its doors in Maryland because of gun control proposals. Shield Tactical, another firearm company, has already ‘jumped the gun’ and is moving to Texas from California.
And its not like the companys have no where else to go. Many politicians, including Mississippi House Speaker Phillip Gunn & Texas Governor Rick Perry, have begged the companies to relocate to their states. Not to mention the $1.7 billion in revenue Colt brings to Connecticut’s economy would be sure to give any state’s economy a welcome jolt.
But Veilleux says he doesn’t want to relocate his business if he doesn’t have to and even closed the factory’s doors last week so 400 Colt workers could lobby against the gun control legislation in the state Capitol.
“The employees are what the company is,” Veilleux said to Fox News. “It’s not a building with a bunch of machines in it. The company is the employees. They’re proud of what they do, they represent their community – and I would say a lot more than some of the legislators do. They’re real people.”
