Why Are Colt And Stag Arms Still In Connecticut?
BY Herschel Smith
10 years, 10 months ago
When Stag Arms of New Britain wanted to produce a scaled-down version of a popular AR-15 rifle that was banned last April by Connecticut — part of a broader crackdown that was upheld Thursday by a U.S. District Court judge in Hartford — it ran the specifications by law enforcement.
“Right off the bat, they were helpful,” said Mark Malkowski, the company’s president and owner. “They did look at prototypes. They did this about three times. After that, they said it really wasn’t their responsibility to determine what was legal or not.”
The reluctance of the State Police to put its seal of approval on the Stag 22, a semi-automatic rifle that accepts lower-caliber bullets and fewer rounds of ammunition than its predecessor, is emblematic of an ongoing tension between the firearms industry and law enforcement over weapons development.
State police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said his agency would hate to sign off on a gun, only to have one of its components render it illegal on a technicality.
“Are we going to be responsible for that?” said Vance, who became a household name for his many news conferences following the Dec. 14, 2012, massacre. “It’s their responsibility to make sure it conforms to the letter of the law.”
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A majority of gun manufacturers are said by industry observers to be far along in the process of converting their traditional AR-15 rifles into .22-caliber models for sale in Connecticut, including Colt’s Manufacturing, the granddaddy of the state’s firearms industry. Multiple requests for comment were left with Colt, which was founded in 1836 in Hartford and employs about 600 people in the state.
In most modification cases, what is known as a center-fire mechanism is swapped out for a rim-fire mechanism. This inhibits the rifle’s ability to accept higher-caliber bullets like those used at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
[ … ]
Shooting purists are not as keen about .22-caliber rifles and the rimfire mechanism …
First of all, what an absurd, stolid article, e.g., low-caliber bullets, high caliber bullets, and so on. Second, I’ll bet “shooting purists are not keen about .22-caliber rifles” in the AR-15 platform (if by that they mean .22LR).
There is a time and place for a .22LR long gun, for teaching youngsters to shoot, plinking, killing small game, etc. I learned to shoot as a youngster with a .22LR long gun. Those were good days.
But with Stag Arms trying to construct a long gun with these specifications in the AR platform, and with the future about this weapon known to everyone who understands these things (it won’t sell and it’s a waste of time and money to develop it), the question necessarily arises “Why is Stag Arms still in Connecticut?” And “Why is Colt still in Connecticut?” And as for that matter, “Why are Connecticut shooters still citizens of Connecticut?”
Come South, men. Come South.
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On February 4, 2014 at 9:45 am, Paul B said:
Naw, leave them there. If they have stayed in the heart of mordor during all this they are not interested in the people they sell the guns too. they are all standing around with fingers in their ears saying “it can’t happen here”.
If they leave now they will bring some of the statist bastards with them and the sickness will spread. We need to incise the cancer, not transplant it.
On February 4, 2014 at 11:30 am, BigJohn2 said:
Oh yes. Why are they still there? Wake up folks and pull your head out of the ground. Colt and Stag will eventually get the message especially when profit margins come in question. Personally, there are too many good manufactures out there that are running circles around them.
On February 4, 2014 at 12:20 pm, Seerightthere! said:
I own a Stag model1, bought it 5-6 years ago, great gun. That said, I will never buy another Stag until the company leaves Connecticut, do you here me Stag Arms? You have lost a customer due to your willful inability to support your customers rights.