It is truly a sad day.
After nearly two centuries, New York is forcing out a weapons manufacturer with a rich history and legacy because it has decided enough is enough.
The most recent Remington company, RemArms, declared that it would entirely abandon the Empire State by consolidating in La Grange, Georgia, and ceasing all manufacturing operations in Ilion, New York. The permanent closure is scheduled for March 2024.
“The closure of the historic facility in Ilion deeply saddens us,” CEO Ken D’Arcy of RemArms said in a statement.
About 250 to 300 workers may lose their employment as a result of the shutdown, and New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul has not yet commented on the historic manufacturer’s decision to go.
The D’Arcy announcement coincides with a growing body of evidence that New York’s elected state leaders do not want the 207-year-old firearms firm. In his remarks, D’Arcy made it apparent that the state’s unfriendly legislative climate is not welcome.
“We have a dedicated workforce at the Ilion facility, but maintaining and operating those very old buildings is cost prohibitive, and NY’s legislative environment remains a concern for our industry,” he said.
D’Arcy mentions a multifaceted legislative climate that is troubling. A large majority of Democrats opposed to the Second Amendment control the state legislature, and no gun control or anti-hunting initiative is safe from becoming a law.
In her quest for power, Governor Kathy Hochul has abandoned her prior support for the Second Amendment and gone all in on gun control. She has implemented even stricter and more onerous gun control laws in its place, disregarding the US Supreme Court’s ruling in the Bruen case.
She has been perfectly tolerant of the damage the NY SAFE Act, which the disgraced and ousted Governor Andrew Cuomo implemented, caused.
Additionally, to circumvent Congress and the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), New York Attorney General Letitia James has kept up her assault on gun manufacturers. The NSSF is suing AG James in retaliation for her attempts to apply the state’s “public nuisance” statute to make producers of legal firearms liable for the illegal activities of unconnected, distant third-party offenders.
Don’t forget Remington’s D’Arcy offered in 2021 to repurpose their one million-square-foot Ilion facility to mass produce personal protective equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic to help save lives. This offer is an even more egregious example of how petty the state’s leaders have been in showing open disdain for the firearm industry. The governor at the time, Cuomo, rejected that offer outright.
Given the constant attacks from elected state officials, it’s understandable why Georgia’s climate of sunlight and gun-friendly laws was too wonderful to pass up.
Many pro-industry, pro-Second Amendment elected leaders came out in favor of RemArms and its employees after D’Arcy’s decision.
The state’s top Republican official, U.S. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, had harsh words for the governor and her destructive policies.
“It is because of New York Democrats’ unconstitutional gun grab policies that the oldest gun manufacturer in the country has been run out of the state,” GOP Conference Chair Stefanik said. “Hochul must stop her unconstitutional assault on the Second Amendment now.”
My full statement on America's oldest gun manufacturer Remington Arms leaving New York State. pic.twitter.com/I8HH88NnS5
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) November 30, 2023
New York State Senator Joe Griffo and state Assemblymen Robert Smullen and Brian Miller, all Republicans, offered a joint statement, saying in part, “Unfortunately, like we have seen all too often in New York, burdensome regulations, crippling taxes and problematic energy and other policies continue to force businesses and companies to flee the state, taking jobs and livelihoods with them.”
Republican state Senator Mark Walczyk added, “Albany Democrats and their failed policies are directly responsible for the closure of this facility and the unemployment of roughly 250-300 New Yorkers.”
Even though it is regrettable, RemArms’ decision to legally and finally leave the Empire State is not shocking given the animosity the state has shown.
The move is consistent with a long-standing pattern of illustrious and historic gun manufacturers uprooting themselves from the Northeast and establishing new roots in the South in more hospitable and pro-gun states. RemArms is at least the 20th gun company in recent memory to accomplish this.
Gun makers are demonstrating to state legislators that they are prepared to make investments in jurisdictions that value the firearms industry and the contributions it makes.
The current list of those businesses is as follows:
Alabama
- Kimber expanded production to Troy, over Yonkers, N.Y. It later relocated its corporate headquarters to Alabama.
Georgia
- Remington Firearms announced it will establish a global headquarters, research and development and expand production in La Grange. RemArms made their recent announcement that all Ilion, New York, manufacturing operations will move to La Grange as well.
- Taurus moved production to Bainbridge, Ga., from South Florida in 2019.
Iowa
- Les Baer moved from restrictive Illinois to LeClaire, Iowa, in 2007.
- Lewis Machine & Tool Company (LMT) left Illinois after 40 years to relocate to Iowa in 2019.
Florida
- Dark Storm Industries moved some operations from Oakdale, N.Y., to Merritt Island, Fla., and is considering relocating to other Florida communities, as well as in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.
Mississippi
- Olin Corporation’s Winchester Ammunition moved most production from East Alton, Ill., to Oxford in 2011.
North Carolina
- Sturm, Ruger and Co. expanded production in Mayodan, N.C., in 2013.
Pennsylvania
- Kahr Arms moved their headquarters to Greely, Penn., from New York after the state rushed through passage of the SAFE Act. And pulling most of its manufacturing out of Worcester, Massachusetts.
South Carolina
- American Tactical Imports relocated 100 jobs and its manufacturing from Rochester, N.Y., to Summerville, S.C., in 2013.
- PTR Industries left Connecticut for Aynor in 2013, where it set up shop.
Tennessee
- Beretta moved firearm production and engineering and design to Gallatin, Tenn., from Maryland in 2015 over concerns of increasingly strict gun control legislation.
- Smith & Wesson announced it was moving the company headquarters and some production to Maryville in 2021. It held a ribbon cutting ceremony in October.
Texas
- Mossberg expanded production in Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2013, instead of growing its New Haven, Conn., plant.
- Colt Competition moved from Canby, Ore., to Breckenridge, Texas, in 2013.
Wyoming
- Magpul Industries left Boulder, Colo., after the state passed magazine restrictions and moved production to Laramie, Wyo.
- Weatherby Inc.’s Adam Weatherby announced at SHOT Show in 2018 that he was moving the company from California to Sheridan, Wyo.
- Accessories maker HiViz announced in 2013 they were leaving Fort Collins, Colo., over restrictive gun control legislation to Laramie.
- Stag Arms announced in 2019 they were opening their new facility in Cheyenne, Wyo., after leaving their former headquarters in New Britain, Conn.