Actions have consequences.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, last year urged the country’s major gun retailers “to suspend sales of modern assault-style weapons.” The State of New York then went a step further and passed the NY SAFE Act, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo described as the “toughest” gun control law in the United States. The Act’s definition of an “assault weapon” made it illegal to own some guns that were actually being manufactured in the state by Remington, America’s oldest gun manufacturer.
Remington subsequently decided that it would be expanding its operation into more gun-friendly territory, namely Alabama, where the company announced it would be opening a manufacturing facility that will bring roughly 2,000 jobs to The Yellowhammer State.
(Video below: Alabama’s ‘We Dare Defend our Rights’ motto played role in landing Remington — Article continues below the video)
Over the weekend, the consequences of New York’s anti-gun laws continue to be felt both there and in Alabama. Remington officials announced Friday that they are moving the production lines for the Bushmaster rifle and 1911 pistol from Ilion, NY to Hunstville, Ala.
The Bushmaster AR-15 semi-automatic rifle has been at the heart of the so-called “assault weapons” debate after it was used during the Newtown, Conn. shootings that killed 27. An AR-15 was also used at the theater shooting in Aurora, Colo. in 2012 and by the D.C. sniper roughly a decade ago. It is essentially the civilian version of the M-16, the fully automatic weapon that has been used by American soldiers since Vietnam.
The weapon has drawn the ire of liberal politicians, but has been fiercely defended by gun rights advocates, including NRA president David Keene who penned an op-ed titled “The AR-15: The Gun Liberals Love to Hate,” in which he criticized liberal politicians and members of the media for having “a simple minded and narrow understanding of why the founders included the Second Amendment in our Bill of Rights.”
Individuals defending the AR-15 say that it is an excellent weapon for self-defense. Perhaps most notably, business owners used AR-15s to successfully defended their shops against looters during the L.A. riots in the early 1990s.
The Bushmaster will now be made in Alabama. And along with the 1911 pistol production line, it will create roughly 150 jobs in the state.
Upon hearing the announcement, New York State Sen. James Seward, R-Milford, said he is “afraid additional jobs, and families, will be forced to move south,” unless the state rolls back its excessive gun laws.
“In Alabama we strongly support and uphold our great U.S. Constitution on which our nation and our states were founded,” Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley told Yellowhammer. “The Constitution serves to protect individual Freedoms. Among them are those guaranteed in the Second Amendment, which protects the right of the people to keep and bear Arms. We will protect the Freedoms of individuals and welcome any one or any company to Alabama to discover as so many have, that we are a pro-business state filled with good, hardworking people.”
Follow Cliff on Twitter @Cliff_Sims
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