“The president of one of the nation’s oldest gun manufacturers closed down his Connecticut factory Thursday morning and bused 400 of his workers to the state Capitol so they could personally urge lawmakers not to pass gun control legislation that they say could risk their livelihoods,” foxnews.com reports. Yes, well, as we pointed out in a previous post, when it comes to preventing Constitution State pols from enacting civilian disarmament legislation, a simple show of force from the firearm freedom folks ain’t gonna get it done. But the threat of job losses? That’s another matter. Over in CO, Magpul Director Duane Liptak recently repeated his company’s promise (not threat) to leave the Rocky Mountain State if Governor Hickenlooper signs a mag cap ban bill. Colt bailing on CT? Not so much. But . . .
“If we ban this product [modern sporting rifles] in the state where we make it, our customers will take their business to another brand,” he said. “When we start to get erosion of our customers, we lose our market share.” . . .
“Our customers don’t want to support the state of New York. So our customers aren’t going to want to support the state of Connecticut,” he said. “And our association is so strong with the state of Connecticut, that it’s inevitable that it’s going to begin to erode.”
So even the possibility of a consumer backlash against companies failing to support firearms equality (i.e. civilians having the same access to modern sporting rifles and “high capacity” magazine) or putting up with state MSR bans and mag limits is having an impact. At least in the PR-o-sphere.
OK, so now we’ve heard from Beretta, who promises to leave Maryland if they ban MSRs or “high capacity” magazines. Colt (ish) says they’re not moving out of CT or joining the firearms equality movement. What about MA’s Smith & Wesson? Or the Newtown-based NSSF for that matter? And when will this [rightly feared] boycott begin?
[h/t Torben]