Connecticut firearms maker set to formally announce move to South Carolina

Via the Sun News of Myrtle Beach:

CONWAY — Connecticut firearms manufacturer PTR Industries will announce Monday that it has decided to move its operation to Horry County.

The formal announcement is to be made at a 2:30 p.m. ribbon cutting ceremony at an industrial building in the Cool Springs Business Park.

[…]

The company was identified as Project Phaser in the resolution, but Brad Lofton, CEO of the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corp. said previously that Phaser was the name given to PTR Industries.

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Josh Fiorini, PTR’s CEO, told The Sun News that the company will have 140 employees, many of whom will relocate in the move, which he said will happen over three years.

[…]

PTR Industries is one of two Connecticut firearms manufacturers that have said they are being courted by Horry County. The other, Stag Arms, said it is interested in the area, according to Mark Malkowski, Stage Arms CEO.

[…]

The move was precipitated by restrictive gun laws passed by the state of Connecticut.

The Associated Press has more:

BRISTOL, Connecticut — Less than a week after Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed gun restrictions into law in April, gun manufacturer PTR Industries said it intended to leave the state to avoid the damage it expected to be inflicted on its business.

On Wednesday, the rifle manufacturer kept its promise, announcing it will move to Aynor, South Carolina

“One hundred percent of our product line is now illegal in Connecticut due to that law,” said John McNamara, the company’s vice president for sales.

I suspect this will be the first move of many for gun manufacturers around the country who are based in states that are demonizing gun owners and passing more restrictive gun laws in the aftermath of the Newtown massacre. Can you blame them?

9 Responses to "Connecticut firearms maker set to formally announce move to South Carolina"

Drew the Infidel says:

June 19, 2013 at 7:27 pm

There are others Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) is trying to recruit. He made a visit to Colt and used their firing range. Others are in that area he is actively trying to coax to move to TX, Savage Arms among them.

The unrestrained emotionalism behind their so-called “common sense” gun control law, including the cynical exploitation of victims’ relatives, will have a negative effect since the CEOs primary responsibility is to the shareholders.

Texas’ selling points are low taxes, business friendly environment, fewer regulations, tort reform (loser pays), and no personal income tax.
Carlos says:

June 19, 2013 at 7:56 pm

Good on them, but I hope a three-year move doesn’t tank them.

As was famously spoken in the movies and on TV, “Live long and prosper.”
Great White Rat says:

June 19, 2013 at 10:29 pm

Don’t blame the company at all. The state has basically declared them unwelcome, so why not get out?

Of course, the liberals running CT will now begin whining about how taxes must go up on everyone else because these ungrateful meanies left town. It won’t be the legislature’s fault, or the governor’s. Nope.

The other thought I’m having is about the employees. How many of the ones who will be jobless voted Democrat? My opinion: they’re getting exactly what they voted for, so no complaining. How many of the ones who will go to SC with the company voted Democrat, but don’t understand that they voted for all this, and will now infest the voting booths in SC with their ignorance?
Carlos says:

June 19, 2013 at 10:53 pm

How many of the ones who will go to SC with the company voted Democrat, but don’t understand that they voted for all this, and will now infest the voting booths in SC with their ignorance?

Yep, just like California does to Oregon, Idaho, Washington and many other states. (No offense intended, Phineas, but so many of your Calpatriots move here and then want to vote the same government disaster they voted for in CA!)
Great White Rat says:

June 20, 2013 at 12:31 am

My point exactly, Carlos. Liberals are simply too stupid to understand cause and effect. They vote for policies that ruin a perfectly good place to live. They do realize that their state has gone to hell, and other places are better. So, having fouled their own nests, they move somewhere else – and promptly vote for the same ideas that made their old state a hellhole. Liberalism is not only a mental disorder, it’s a cancer.
sniperpitbull says:

June 20, 2013 at 5:08 am

If the CT libs and their politicians are whining now over loosing PTR and possible Stag Arms, wait till Colt, Remington, Winchester, and Ruger pull up stakes and leave the Nutmeg State. Taxes will shoot though the roof! And no doubt we’ll be hearing the word “bailout” from another bastion of uptopian liberalism. So much for Kenysian Economics.

As my grad school professor used to say, “people get the government that they vote for, and the government dha they deserve.”

Note to Colt, Remington, Winchester, and Ruger- as you head to more welcoming surroundings, don’t forget to police up your brass on the way out.

Fair winds and following seas on your voyage to economic freedom and a new promise land.
Drew the Infidel says:

June 20, 2013 at 11:35 am

Contrary to Gov. Malloy’s condescending attitude, the transportation system in TX to facilitate a move here and to conduct business is a modern network of rail, highways, and airports, not pack mules and Conestoga wagons.

When was the last time you saw someone looking down their nose at the one who was about to administer a good ol’ country a*s kicking?
If All You See… » Pirate's Cove says:

June 20, 2013 at 1:01 pm

[…] blog of the day is Sister Toldjah, with a post on a Connecticut firearms maker moving to South […]
TomTB says:

June 22, 2013 at 2:16 pm

What’s insane about this current anti-gunny political climate is Connect-I-cut isn’t known for anything much EXCEPT firearms manufacturing. You have insurance, used to have cigar wrapper tobacco grown on the CT river banks, and phoney “native” Americans operating gambling casinos between Boston and NYC.

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