“While we are unhappy with the misguided acts of our elected politicians, Remington will not run or abandon its loyal and hard working 1,300 employees without considerable thought and deliberation,” the statement reads. “Laws can be overturned and politicians voted out of office, but the decisions we make today will affect our people, their families and entire communities for generations.”
Though, skeptics will certainly question whether Remington is being honest about why their staying put instead of relocating to pro-Second Amendment states like Texas or Wyoming and why they’re maintaining such close ties to the state and federal government given the aggressive push by lawmakers to subvert one’s right to keep and bear arms.
As Guns.com pointed out in a previous article, Remington has received millions of dollars over the years from the state government, including a recent $6 million subsidy to renovate their facilities in Ilion.
Moreover, the $79.7 million contract they secured with the military to supply SOCOM with 5,000 Remington MSR sniper rifles has had some asking questions about whether or not they were bribed into staying and subsequently acquiescing to the NY SAFE Act.
In the statement, Remington flatly denied those allegations.
“The recently awarded Department of Defense (Special Operations Command) contract, questioned by some as a ‘pay-off,’ has been in development for years — it has nothing to do with NY State.”
Full statement:
To our Remington fans,
We believe the NY SAFE Act is unconstitutional and was passed in a questionable fashion.
Remington and its employees worked diligently with pro-gun legislators to prevent the Act’s passage. We actively participated in the Albany rallies and drove the letter-writing campaign to stop this anti-gun legislation.
The recently awarded Department of Defense (Special Operations Command) contract, questioned by some as a “pay-off,” has been in development for years — it has nothing to do with NY State.
While we are unhappy with the misguided acts of our elected politicians, Remington will not run or abandon its loyal and hard working 1,300 employees without considerable thought and deliberation. Laws can be overturned and politicians voted out of office, but the decisions we make today will affect our people, their families and entire communities for generations.
Please bear with us as we determine the most appropriate way to satisfy our customers and protect our employees.
Thoughts and analysis
I agree with Remington’s statement. In particular, the part about how laws can be overturned and feckless politicians voted out of office.
See, I don’t think it’s good for the gun community to have New York or New England-based gun manufacturers leave their home states and relocate to places that are already gun-friendly. While in the short term it’s a great way to voice their displeasure with the new gun laws, I think in the long term it will be damaging to the pro-gun movement.
We’re in the midst of a culture war right now. We need to win hearts and minds in places that are known to be hostile toward the Second Amendment. Having major gun manufacturers in these embattled states can be a very effective way to influence the non-gun owning public as well as those who hold public office, to say “Hey, look what’s in your backyard, i.e. a thriving business that’s part of a larger economic engine that creates jobs and tax revenue.”
Pressuring gun manufacturers to leave will only serve to harden the divide, to alienate more people from our cause, to give Bloomberg and his cohorts more freedom and momentum to indoctrinate the masses. At the end of the day, gun owners have to ask themselves, what leverage is there to be gained by becoming more isolated and more segregated from the rest of society?
Bottom line: we need to have a large and commanding presence in every state, not just the ones that like us. And I applaud Remington for digging in and gearing up to take the fight head on.
This article was originally posted by S.H. Blannelberry
