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Colt Firearms Threatens to Leave Connecticut over Strict Gun Laws

by Todd Huston

by Warner Todd Huston22 Mar 2013, 4:06 PM PDTpost a commentView Discussion

Colt President and CEO Dennis Veilleux published an op ed in the Hartford Currantasking why it makes any sense that Colt Manufacturing stay in Connecticut.

Veilleux said the "economic advantage" his company has brought to Hartford for the last 175 years "is in grave danger."

"What's most astounding." Veilleux wrote, "is our advantage is not being taken away--it's being given away."

Veilleux notes that much of his business today is centered on the AR-15 rifle platform, in both military-only and civilian models, and that this rifle model has widespread use all across the firearms community from target shooting to hunting. But Governor Malloy is putting Colt's business at risk.

"Now Gov. Dannel P. Malloy says that with or without bipartisan consensus, he intends to ban this rifle. But a ban of the most popular semiautomatic rifle in the United States for what are essentially cosmetic reasons would make no one safer and punish a vital Connecticut industry."

Veilleux then points out that other states often contact Colt, trying to lure the company away from its 175-year home. Veilleux has never considered the move until now, because if Malloy successfully bans Colt's rifle, it will "irreparably damage--if not destroy--the brand" of his company and that of several other high-profile firearms companies in the state.

Therefore, Veilleux gives a stern warning:

As a result Colt, as well as other Connecticut manufacturers such as Mossberg and Stag Arms will see immediate erosion in brand strength and market share as customers migrate to manufacturers in more supportive states. This will have consequences for dozens of Connecticut companies and thousands of workers. Connecticut will have put its firearms manufacturing industry in jeopardy: one that contributes $1.7 billion annually to the state's economy.

As Fox News reports, Hartford's unemployment is already a bit higher than the national average. If Colt shuts down production and moves out of state, that will only make matters worse.

Earlier, Elizabeth Sheld alerted Breitbart readers to a concerted effort to put an end to Gov. Malloy's unilateral gun ban efforts sponsored by several firearms companies in Connecticut.

Colt, Mossurg, and Stag Arms recently launched an ad campaign to warn CT residents of the danger to the state's economy if Malloy is successful in his anti-Second Amendment efforts.

Further alienating gun manufacturers in the Nutmeg State, the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) recently rescinded an offer for Bushmaster Firearms to move its headquarters from North Carolina to Stamford.

Congress is currently considering a variety of gun control measures introduced by Democratic lawmakers. To stem that tide, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) plans to introduce an amendment in the Senate that would make it more difficult to pass gun control billsin Congress.