Colt moving to Texas
 

Colt's Manufacturing, the company that has made the iconic gun dubbed "The Peacemaker" for more than a century, could pull up its Connecticut stakes after coming under fire in the national debate over the Second Amendment.

President and CEO Dennis Veilleux said the pro-gun control climate that has taken hold in the wake of the Sandy Hook school massacre and other firearm attacks has left him feeling unwelcome in the state his company has called home for 175 years. Proposed laws being debated by the Legislature and pushed by Gov. Dannel Malloy include a new gun offender registry, an expanded assault weapons ban, ammunition restrictions and a ban on bulk purchases of handguns. Veilleux said those measures have put Colt and its nearly 700 employees in the crosshairs.

- Dennis Veilleux, CEO of Colt's Manufacturing
“At some point, if you can’t sell your products … then you can’t run your business," Veilleux told FoxNews.com. "You need customers to buy your products to stay in business.”
Veilleux, who wrote an op-ed that appeared in The Hartford Courant this week in which he raised the prospect of leaving the state, said the company doesn’t have any such “definite plans.” But if Malloy follows through on his promise to ban the purchase and sale of AR-15 rifles, the centerpiece of the company’s business, he said leaving could become an option.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/21...#ixzz2PXQqqI4u



UPDATE:

BRECKENRIDGE (CBS 11 NEWS) – A firearms company that makes AR-15 style rifles for the iconic brand Colt, will open a plant in Breckenridge in Stephens County. Oregon company Bold Ideas confirmed the development Friday.

Bold Ideas goes by the name Colt Competition, making high accuracy rifles for competition shooting.

The company has not officially announced the opening, but employment applications are already available at the Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce. A non-specific, help wanted ad appeared in the local newspaper classifieds earlier in the week.

Sources say Colt Competition will move into a large vacant industrial space on the north side of town, previously used by Karsten Homes to manufacture mobile homes.

The move by Colt Competition into Breckenridge comes as the CEO of Colt Manufacturing in Connecticut has said there will soon be few good answers to keep his company in the state. Connecticut passed some of the nation’s most restrictive gun laws this week.

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/04/05/f...o-north-texas/

Does CT have a clue that Colt is $1.7 BILLION (with a B ... not a typo) to their economy? :eek:

Saddened for what's become of my home state. :(

Apparently, politics means more than keeping your state economy going well. Sad day for CT.

colt, the processor for its parts, are gone. The parts processer is the largest manufacturer of small parts for the industry. IE every bulk lower kit starts with them, springs screws, roll pins, firing pins, detent pins.

the Hard anodizer, and metal finisher for, Smith, Stag, Sig sauer, mosberg, FN. are all here in ct. One of the largest mag manufactures is here also, Most american mags, parts, barrels ect get coated, blued, parked ect here in norwalk. All are leaving or loosing the business.

It was said that if colt left they would take their immediate 1000 employees. Some would get pinkslips some would get offers to relocate. The parts manufacture would do about another 1k in workers 2/3rds unemployment. 1/3rd relo.

The various other smaller companies that do hauling, tracking, coating, assembly would make up 3k more that would loose the work as the items can no longer be transported in, or that the hassle was not worth colts time.

Stag has made a deal with malloy supposedly, from what i heard from colts general counsel. they can stay, but must only do business out of the state. I think the heads of stag did not want to cut 1000 employees. The coating companies and finishing companies are loosing over half their work.

The magazine manufacturer is not getting any love from the state. They are said to be leaving.

Ruger packed after the pdf assessment was released. They are movign their headquarters to NH.

Mossberg said seeya

there are 1/2 dozen other smaller manufacturers of either parts, slides, frames, or full gun companies that are leaving.

In all the last count was 5k unemployed or relo out of state. and over 2.5 bill lost in tier one sales revenue and not to mention tier two, and tier 3 sales and tax revenue.

And I thought I got a great deal when my real estate taxes dropped 6x when I moved to South Carolina 5 years ago. Can't imagine what the tax burden is going to be on those that stay as the tax base erodes further due to this self inflicted wound.

GOOD! They could come here, I'd love to work for them!!nanner

Did Conn. not see what happened in the 90's with military base closure's and realignments?

It's the trickle down effect that really hits everyone hard. You start with Colt moving. From there, every store, gas station, restaurant, mini mart, apt. complex, movie theater, etc, etc, etc in the immediate area feels the pinch because of lost sales because there is no longer the worker or their family to use their services.

When Ft Polk moved from Leesville, La. to Ft Hood, Tx. in '93, Leesville damn near went bankrupt. I know, I was one of the last to leave Ft. Polk. It wasn't until a reserve unit from Arkansas moved in a year later that the area started to recover.

Stoopid azz politicians, never think ahead!

You have to understand this has never been a rational argument for them. It has, as close as i can put it, a religious crusade. More like a statist/marxist crusade. The fall out effects are irrelevant if the goal is achieved. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. The ends Justify the Means.

And THAT my friends is why this all needs to stop! Elections are coming up in 2014, at that point it's time to cull the heard, hit them with all this info. make them hurt in their pocket books trying to defend losing businesses, raising unemployment, etc. Other than that, at some point more positive actions will occur it may start small or start as it did in 1776 but it will start.

You are correct...to put it mildly and simple, that sucks!