Why Remington Is Leaving New York
BY Herschel Smith
10 years ago
Remington Arms has confirmed what many already long suspected — New York’s tough gun control laws played a role in the upstate gun manufacturer’s decision to expand outside the state.
Remington, which has operated in New York State since 1816, shifted 100 jobs down south in August. Another 126 people were laid off last week as a result of a decline in gun sales.
The company says one reason behind its decision to open a new plant in Alabama rather than expand in New York was “state policies affecting use of our products,” Remington Outdoor Company CEO George Kollitides wrote to some upstate officials Oct. 20.
The statement was taken by some as a direct shot at a tough gun control measure enacted by New York in early 2013 in the wake of the Newtown, Conn., school shootings.
Indeed, one part of the gun control measure, also known as the SAFE Act, banned AR-15 rifles in New York — the very gun Remington made at its plant in upstate Ilion.
Those assault guns will now be made in Alabama.
Kollitides also said workforce quality, business environment, tax and economic incentives, and existing infrastructure impacted the decision to open a plant in Alabama.
So was it more economical wages due to leaving the exorbitant expense of a union state? Was it a friendlier environment in the South? Or was it customer feedback to Remington in the form of refusing to purchase firearms from a state where the government is oppressing its citizens?
And the correct answer is yes, all of the above. And other gun manufacturers in the North – take notice.
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