By NSSF
The SHOT Show wasn’t just a showcase for the firearms industry. State leaders are competing for firearms businesses, too.
“It’s not just a matter of saying we believe in the Second Amendment. We live the outdoors.” said Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on a SHOT Show TV appearance with Georgia’s Bert Brantley Chief Operating Officer of the Economic Development Council. They spoke with NSSF’s Larry Keane, Senior Vice President for Government and Public Affairs.
Gov. Hutchinson and Brantley discussed efforts by Arkansas and Georgia to attract and grow the firearms and ammunition industry in their respective states, and what they believe are the key areas of praise and concern happening right now across the country. Both federal and state-level regulations and legislative policies have had a tremendous, and positive impact on recruiting firearms businesses to relocate or expand to states that offer more friendly business environments and respect the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
“The difference is in many states … gun-manufacturers are tolerated if at all, whereas in the South – they are embraced,” Gov. Hutchinson explained.
Watch the full video of the discussion from Keane, Brantley, and Gov. Hutchinson, and to hear more on efforts and insights from their vantage points as leaders within their states.
As much as it appears to be otherwise, there are still state Governors in the country who understand what’s really going on, and are smart enough to act on it. Sure wish mine was one!
would seem like a logical move…the handwriting is on the wall….
And why not advertise your state if it is friendly to profitable, legal business?
About 15 years back, at a request from NRA, I organized a group to back up Les Baer’s move from IL to Iowa. An out-of-area group came in and blindsided the LeClaire, IA city council meeting with all sorts of lies and distortions so I put together a group of members and local legislators to attend the next meeting, all with about 1 day’s notice. It worked, and to this day Les has been thankful for our help. What still has me confused are all of the gun makers, including Springfield Armory, Rock River Armory, Armalite, and others who still ply their trades just across the Mississippi, even though the entire IL state gov’t is dedicated to putting them out of business, or, like a couple of their past governors, in jail.
For what springfield and rock river did to Illinois gun shops and gun owners, you can have both of the sob’s.
I think manufacturers will more careful about where they locate after we have witnessed the disaster of what one election did in Virginia. We went from a great gun state to what may well be the worst in the country. Even many of us natives are considering relocating to a more gun friendly state.
This sort of thing is nothing new… I grew up in New Jersey, many years ago. Best thing I’ve ever done was get the hell out of there. You can vote, write your representative, protest, etc. If the state is full of corrupt Democrats, it’s all for nothing.
“If the state is full of corrupt Democrats, it’s all for nothing.”
Welcome to the California experience. Feel our pain.
My boy has already asked when and where are we moving…..
Recall your governor now.
Wasn’t Kimber from NY?
Good. If you’ve been paying attention Buck Knives escaped from California nonsense and taxes to Idaho.
Idaho, is being flooded with people from Mexifornia now. I think it was Star Idaho that over the last five years grew from a sleepy town of 5000 to 35,000 with most of them from Mexifornia. Tell me Idaho will not turn blue.
Where did Vlad go? Did he get the boot? If so, good riddance.
Since Lobby Day didn’t go sideways he’s most likely in his basement cave sobbing uncontrollably. He’ll be back after he gets a good pep talk from Shannon Watts and AOC.
Shannon is giving him positive reinforcement right now.
As soon as she is done pegging him he’ll be back,
5150’d? Again? Maybe his group home has computer problems or he lost his on line privileges.
5150? It’s that like getting Baker Acted (72 hour hold) here in Fl?
Yeah, it’s a Health and Safety code for mandatory psych eval. Let’s just hope it’s not a temporary 72 hour restriction, lol. That assclown needs to be permanently 86’d from this forum.
He’s around posting under different names.
this is good
when civil war 2.0 or societal collapse or shtf or whatever historians end up calling it eventually happens all the gunmakers will be in the states where the good guys are at
lets get all the ammo makers there too
Dear Gun Manufacturers …
…one word …
…are you listening…
? ready for it ?
Arizona!!!
Can’t stand AZ. Been going there off and on every few years (either business or vacation at the wife’s request) my whole life. Every time’s a hassle. Last time, I got stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint located more than 30 miles from the border, and detained while they questioned me about my immigration status, where I was from/going, the occupants of my vehicle, etc. All this, while I’m perhaps the blondest, whitest ‘Whitey” there is, and driving a car with CA plates in an area with many tourists passing by with CA plates. All it took was for me to simply ask “am I required by law to answer your questions?”, and Mr. BP Agent and his sidekick got ants in their pants and detained me and my wife while they did a background check on us (facial recognition cameras) and our vehicle before very rudely letting us go, insulting me as we drove away.
AZ can bite me.
I got stopped at one of those checkpoints leaving EL Paso, Texas after visiting my sister and brother in law at FT Bliss and the car I was driving had Indiana plates. I’m black and I was on leave at the time the CBP agent asked me if thete was anyone else in the car i told him no then asked if I was military i said yes then he thanked me for my service and let me go on my way. I personally don’t blame the states for those checkpoints well within the US I blame the federal government and the SCOTUS for ruling that those checkpoints are legal.
If the checkpoints were actually near…you know…the border, I wouldn’t have a problem, as I never go near the border anyway. But this was 30+ miles away, so nowhere near, and I never crossed any border to trigger any Customs questioning. I have a problem that the Fed Guv simply announced by diktat that the CBP jurisdiction is a full 100 miles inland from the entire perimeter around the country, which means they can (not lawfully per the Constitution, but when does that stop them) detain and search 2/3 of the U.S. population without a warrant, under the color of Border Security authority.
Checkpoints harassing citizens is “okay”, but going after known illegals here in CA is verboten. Our world is backwards.
The rally in VA inspired me. How do I find a Bill-of-Rights/Constitution/2A rally in California?
Not on FB.
(Off topic, I know)
There are none I could ever find. Most gun owners didn’t even show up for gunmageddon Vote in 2016, now my bullet button AR is an assault weapon.
Fuck CA. If I was single, I’d be gone.
DFM or KaliKey. I have both. Never used a bullet button because of the very fact that it didn’t explicitly act as a workaround to the definition of an AW here. But these two options do, and are easily converted back to normal AR configuration within minutes whenever you leave the state (on vacation or permanently).
Most of the firearms and ammunition manufacturers NEED to be in sympathetic states.
We need to be aware and more politically active. The Communist Globalists are indeed COMING if NOT ALREADY HERE.
The revolution will NOT be televised…
Florida has a ton of gun manufacturers – Kel Tec, SCCY, Diamondback, Spikes Tactical, etc. IIRC, they have a pretty sweet tax break for the industry there.
It’s not just firearms y’all. It’s also Ammo and all the other stuff that goes with firearms. A MS company just landed a large Ammo contract with the USMC for linked .50cal polymer ammo they want for field testing. And that’s just a small part of the industry.
The problem with concentrating those businesses in certain states is that it reduces whatever economic influence they may have on the political process. It’s a given that in some states, that influence is gone.
Beretta opened a factory in my Tennessee county. I’ll have me a Gallatin-stamped pistol, it’s in the queue.
The North had all the manufacturing resources during the Civil War. History repeats itself.
I moved from CT to VA 10 years ago for better climate. I’m single again, and bought a school bus to convert to an RV. Gonna buy a charge of mountain land in AR and call it a life. If AR goes blue, I’ll just do my thing til they come to get me. Though at 55, I expect to be dead of old age before lefties are trying to confiscate guns in rural Arkansas…
SMM Panel One is a cutting-edge SMM Panel that empowers individuals and businesses to supercharge their social media presence. With a comprehensive suite of services, including targeted likes, followers, comments, and more, our platform leverages the power of social media to drive unprecedented growth and engagement. Gain a competitive edge, amplify your reach, and build a thriving online community with ease. Whether you’re an influencer, marketer, or entrepreneur, SMM Panel One is your one-stop solution for harnessing the true potential of social media marketing.