Connecticut firearms maker leaving for South Carolina, citing gun law

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Connecticut firearms maker leaving for South Carolina, citing gun law

By Harriet McLeod
CHARLESTON, South Carolina | Thu Jun 20, 2013 5:04pm EDT

(Reuters) - A firearms manufacturer is leaving Connecticut for the gun-friendly state of South Carolina to avoid the tough gun-control law passed in the wake of the Newtown school shooting that killed 20 first-graders and six adults last December.

PTR Industries, a maker of military-style rifles, picked South Carolina over Texas and four other states, lured by its pro-Second Amendment politics, lower costs and coastal location, economic development officials said on Thursday.

"One hundred percent of our product line is illegal in Connecticut," said John McNamara, PTR's vice president of sales. "They just want to collect our tax dollars on a product that they don't think is safe to own."

The Connecticut law, one of the toughest gun-control measures in the United States, bars high-capacity ammunition magazines of the kind used in the Newtown shooting and adds to the firearms covered by the state's assault-weapons ban.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/20/us-usa-guns-idUSBRE95J17220130620

[tularetom]

1. Well, so much for quality control

My guess is that this has less to do with gun laws and more to do with cheap labor.

[Lizzie Poppet]

2. I'd actually be surprised if that were the case.

The majority of jobs at PTR (a pretty small company) will be skilled positions: gunsmiths, machinists, and so forth. Those are going to be fairly expensive hires regardless of what state they're in. Moreover, whatever difference in salary expenditures there might be between CT and SC for the positions PTR needs would only be multiplied by a rather small number of employees. that makes the overall net savings so low that I can't see it offsetting the enormous expenditure of relocation for decades. Those relocations to dodge Union wages and benefits really only benefit much larger companies than PTR.

[cherokeeprogressive]

6. Wow what an EXCELLENT back-handed swipe at South Carolinians...

They work cheap, and have no concept of quality control. That about right?

[tularetom]

7. Read into it what you will

It says right in the article that "lower costs" were one of the reasons behind the decision to relocate.

[cherokeeprogressive]

8. So tell me about Quality Control in South Carolina...

You obviously think it's lacking somehow?

Lower costs is what would draw most businesses I should think.

The Cost of Business by state shows South Carolina 22nd cheapest, and Connecticut 46th cheapest. To put it another way, Connecticut is in the top 5 most expensive states for businesses.

Connecticut is in the top 3 as far as Cost of Living, and South Carolina is 24th.

Looks like everyone wins to me. Except for Connecticut that is...

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100016697

[premium]

3. Backlash?

Don't blame them at all, why have a business in a state that's hostile to your product?

[NaturalHigh]

4. "They just want to collect our tax dollars...

"on a product that they don't think is safe to own."

Very true, and yes, it's hypocritical.

[CrazyJudy]

5. about half the employees are going to SC...

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-prt-industries-south-carolina-20130619,0,564709.story

[jimmy the one]

9. Conn vs SCarolina

(Reuters) - A firearms manufacturer is leaving Connecticut for the gun-friendly state of South Carolina to avoid the tough gun-control .. PTR Industries, a maker of military-style rifles, picked South Carolina over Texas and four other states, lured by its pro-Second Amendment politics, lower costs and coastal location,
..The Connecticut law, one of the toughest gun-control measures in the United States, bars high-capacity ammunition magazines .. and adds to the firearms covered by the state's assault-weapons ban.

Demographics: SCarolina 4.6 million, Conn 3.6 million; Conn 741 peeps/sqmile 12% rural, SCar 157;
Conn 78% white, 10% black; SCar 66% white, 28% black.

Crime rates thru the current century, Connecticut vs South Carolina
......................Viol.... prop.... murd..rape..robb..aggrasslt...burg........larc...GTA
2011 Conn: 272.8 -2,167.4 -3.6 -19.2 -102.7 --147.3 ---437.9 -1,542.1 -187.4
SCarolina: 571.9 --3,904.2 -6.8 -34.5 - 92.2 --438.4 -1,002.8 -2,609.4 -292.0

2006 Conn: 280.8 -2,504.1 -3.1 -18.1 - 121.0 -138.6 -419.3 -1,788.4 -296.1
SCarolina: 765.5 --4,242.3 -8.3 -40.8 -136.5 -579.9 -989.8 -2,873.0 -379.6

2001 Conn: 334.6 -2,774.7 - 3.1 -18.6 -121.8 -191.1 -499.6 -1,914.7 -360.4
SCarolina: 815.2 - 4,580.2 - 8.1 -43.5 -147.4 -616.1 -1,049.0 -3,120.1 -411.
http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/sccrime.htm

Gun friendly, pro 2ndAmendment policies South Carolina is having twice to thrice+ the crime problem as guncontrol Connecticut, with one of the toughest gun control measures in the US... (Conn does have a modified form of shall issue ccw).
And South Carolina has twice to thrice the murder rate, too. Other factors may contribute.

[gejohnston]

11. post hoc ergo propter hoc

so how safe would either of us be during South Carolina's 1911-1965 handgun ban? Given our political leanings, not very. Actually it was a ban for all but those who the sheriff designated as "special deputies." Take a guess who that included during that era?

[CTyankee]

10. Many of us are just as happy without them. The era of CT being so prominent in making

legendary American guns is over. The old Winchester Repeating Arms factory complex is now part of New Haven's Science Park where high tech companies and some nonprofits are located. We prefer to look to the future, not to the past.

A lot of people don't know that CT played such an important role in the development of guns. Smith and Wesson both hailed from CT. And the Winchester was "the gun that won the west" for the U.S.A after the Civil War.

Public opinion in our state after the sickening disgrace of Newtown has become more and more anti-gun. Hence, our state's new, tough gun safety laws.

[oneshooter]

12. Why don't you ask those who are losing their jobs how happy they are.

And don't forget to let us know what they have to say about it.

[CTyankee]

13. some will gladly move along with the company. I'm sure they'll be happier there.

They as much as said they don't like it in CT any more.

I do not rejoice in anyone losing work But our economy is not as manufacturing based as it once was. Plus, it's not like there is no competition out there in the world for gun making.

Look, I didn't close that manufacturing company. It was a management decision, which is not yours or mine to decide.

[premium]

14. It was a management decision

due to the new gun control laws your lawmakers passed with the approval of the residents, so that would make you, in a sense, responsible for their departure.

[CTyankee]

15. Perhaps the Newtown shooting had something to do with their decision.

It was shocking to US. We never wanted that to happen again. 20 little kids blown to bits by a gunner with an assault weapon. I know you don't care and don't think about Newtown but we do. It is our state and our responsibility to do what we can to keep that from happening again.

It is unseemly that there is more concern here for the workers who are alive than for the kids that are dead, just as it was unseemly for the head of that company to whine about the state of CT being mean to them, in the face of the Newtown horror. Words fail me...

[jimmy the one]

17. good riddance to precision target rifles

oneshooter: Why don't you ask those who are losing their jobs how happy they are.

You're kidding right? who cares amongst us, how a few hundred gunmechanics feel about losing jobs putting together assault rifles? we should care? WE SHOULD CARE? It's what we've been praying for, to keep them from making assault rifles & super clips.
.. whoa, did I say a 'few hundred'?: The company {Precision Target Rifles = PTR} will bring 24 employees to South Carolina and must expand to 140 employees after three years in the state

Rejoice oneshooter, 140 new gunmakers in 3 years, whattaya whining about, you should be happy.
We should be concerned that 24 gunnuts lost their jobs making assault rifles? How will connecticut ever survive? geez, the beer & whiskey industry's gonna suffer as well, pray for them too.

premium, to CTyankee: It was a management decision due to the new gun control laws your lawmakers passed with the approval of the residents, so that would make you, in a sense, responsible for their departure.

Disregard premium's absurd prejudice, CTyankee; you should be glad for every thought word & action you took, whether actively or indirectly, which resulted in 'PTR Precision Target Rifles' leaving connnecticut. Now let them wreak their gun-disease on the already afflicted south carolina.

CTyankee (to others): I know you don't care and don't think about Newtown but we do. It is our state and our responsibility to do what we can to keep that from happening again.
It is unseemly that there is more concern here for the workers who are alive than for the kids that are dead, just as it was unseemly for the head of that company to whine about the state of CT being mean to them, in the face of the Newtown horror. Words fail me...

well said.

[premium]

18. I get it, your another one who doesn't care how it impacts

someone's job just so it gets rid of a business you don't like, but if it were, say, Planned Parenthood that was moving to another state because of new laws passed, you'd be screaming foul as loud as you could.
Carry on now, y'hear.

[CTyankee]

22. thank you, jimmy.

that exchange got painful. I really didn't expect the response I got since I started out to take a rather distanced view and discuss a bit about CT's history with gun manufacturing. That era is over and has been for some time. Our state's future is not with making guns, but with the newer technologies and biotechnologies operating out of the gun factory's old buildings. Science Park, as it is now called, is heavily involved with Yale. I don't know why recounting that little bit of history should be considered insulting.

And the new gun laws were as a direct result of Newtown. Nobody was targeting this gun company for extinction. While that legislation was being debated, I never heard a word about it. Mostly, we were in shock that the mass murder would happen in our state. We were appalled...and still are...

[In_The_Wind]

19. Let's make weapons more cheaply. That'll really help.

[gejohnston]

20. naw, the market is doing that on its own

there was a lot of gouging during the scare, or whatever you want to call it. Now that it blew over, the market is saturated. A lot of $1500 guns became $4000 guns over night. With the market saturated, you can pick one up for about $1200. I'd wait a few months when credit cards start be coming due.
If there are lower labor costs, I doubt it will be passed on to the customer.

[In_The_Wind]

21. I'm not in the market for another gun. One is enough.

[rdharma]

23. "citing gun law"

Yeah, riiiiiight!

They are looking for a low wage, low cost, "right to work" southern state for their expansion! But it doesn't sound as bad if they use the "gun law" spin.