The Baltimore Sun is reporting that PTR Industries, a gun manufacturer, has moved from Connecticut to South Carolina due to the passage of gun control legislation in Connecticut. South Carolina encouraged the gun manufacturer to relocate there. Four other states recruited PTR Industries in addition to South Carolina.
According to The Baltimore Sun
States that consider themselves gun-friendly began touting their economic benefits earlier this year as a series of states considered new gun laws after 20 children and six educators were killed at a Newtown, Conn. elementary school. . . .
[Brad] Lofton [President and Chief Executive Officer of the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation] said that Stag Arms, another Connecticut gun maker, had narrowed down its relocation options to Texas and South Carolina. He said the state can layer as many as 15 different incentives to gun manufacturers, including real estate deals, training for workers, lower taxes and cheaper utilities.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/...
The Baltimore Sun asks whether my home state of Maryland could be next in losing gun manufacturers to other states.
Maryland's new law banning magazines to 10 bullets or less an forbidding the sale of 45 types of assault weapons has also prompted gun companies to threaten leaving. At least seven states besides South Carolina have made overtures to Maryland gun manufacturers. Beretta USA has its headquarters in Prince George's County and said it has no immediate plans to leave but will consider making future expansions in other states.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/...
If Baretta USA and other manufacturers want to leave the state of Maryland, I say good riddance. We should not have a "race to the bottom" where states do what the gun manufacturers want so as not to lose the jobs associated with the manufacture of guns.
When the U.S. Congress failed to do what was necessary to prevent future Newtowns from occurring, the State of Connecticut stepped up to the plate and passed gun control legislation, despite opposition from the NRA and gun manufacturers.
Kudos to the State of Connecticut and other states like Maryland who put the interests (and lives) of their citizens ahead of the economic interests of the gun manufacturers.