Blue State Dumped: Legendary Gun Maker Decides to Relocate Its HQ to Historically Red State
Remington Arms, America’s oldest gun manufacturer, announced Monday that it is moving its headquarters from New York to Georgia.
“We are very excited to come to Georgia, a state that not only welcomes business but enthusiastically supports and welcomes companies in the firearms industry,” Remington CEO Ken D’Arcy said in a statement, according to ABC News.
“Everyone involved in this process has shown how important business is to the state and how welcoming they are to all business, including the firearms industry,” D’Arcy added, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Remington, founded in the small upstate New York village of Ilion in 1816, will pump $100 million into its operation in LaGrange, Georgia, and hire 856 people over the next five years.
Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp rejoiced at the company’s move to his state.
“Georgia’s firearms industry is responsible for thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of investment in our communities,” Kemp said.
“I am a proud owner of some of Remington’s first-class product, and now, I am excited to welcome them to their new home in the Peach State.”
Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney of New York blamed liberal policies for the company’s move.
“Far-left progressives in New York, starting with disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo, made it clear their mission was to destroy the Empire State’s iconic firearms industry,” she said in a news release.
“Today, the Mohawk Valley is sadly seeing the disastrous fruits of their labor.”
“Politicians in Albany continue to target, criminalize, and destroy our economy, way of life, and everything we upstate New Yorkers hold dear,” Tenney added.
“Remington Arms has been a staple of the Mohawk Valley since 1816, providing good manufacturing jobs to generations of New York families. I am deeply concerned that today’s announcement may bring this long and storied chapter in our region’s history to an abrupt end.”
Remington’s move may have been foreshadowed this summer when the Democrat-controlled New York state Legislature passed a bill allowing gun makers to be sued.
Remington is not abandoning New York entirely, according to the Observer-Dispatch.
“They’re up to 350 workers now and they’re looking to add more employees,” Herkimer County, New York, administrator James Wallace said. “We’re very hopeful that they’ll stay and continue to grow here.”
Remington, which once had a workforce in Ilion of more than 1,000 people, filed for bankruptcy last year.
The Roundhill Group purchased its gun-making operation for $13 million.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
