It’s a sad day and marked the end of a nearly two-century era in New York. Add another tally on the board for a hostile gun control Blue state in the Northeast suffocating and pushing out a storied, tradition-rich firearm manufacturer that decided enough was enough.
RemArms, the latest iteration of Remington, announced it will close all manufacturing operations in Ilion, New York, and consolidate in La Grange, Georgia, completely leaving the Empire State. The doors will close for good by March of 2024.
“We are deeply saddened by the closing of the historic facility in Ilion,” RemArms CEO Ken D’Arcy said in a statement.
The closure means roughly 250 to 300 employees will no longer have jobs, and so far, New York Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has made no statement about the historic manufacturer opting to leave.
Total Industry Disdain
The news from D’Arcy comes at a time when it is increasingly apparent elected state officials in New York don’t want the 207-year-old firearm company. D’Arcy made it clear in his comments the state’s hostile legislative environment isn’t welcoming.
“We have a dedicated workforce at the Ilion facility, but maintaining and operating those very old buildings is cost prohibitive, and NY’s legislative environment remains a concern for our industry,” he said.
The concerning legislative environment D’Arcy references is multipronged. Anti-Second Amendment Democrats hold large majorities in the state’s legislature and there’s no gun control bill, or even anti-hunting bill for that matter, that isn’t a serious risk for becoming law.
Gov. Kathy Hochul in her lust for power has thrown her former pro-Second Amendment views in the trash heap and gone all-in on gun control, dismissing the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bruen and enacting even more egregious and restrictive gun control measures instead. She’s been just fine to let the damage done by former disgraced Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s NY SAFE Act continue.
In addition, New York Attorney General Letitia James has continued her assault on firearm manufacturers too in an attempt to end run around Congress and the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA). NSSF is in turn suing AG James for her attempts to use the state’s ‘public nuisance’ law to hold lawful firearm manufacturers responsible for the unlaw actions of unrelated remote third party criminals.
In a more infamous example of how petty the state’s leaders have been in showing open disdain for the firearm industry, don’t forget Remington’s D’Arcy offered in 2021 to repurpose their one-million square foot Ilion facility to mass produce personal protective equipment (PPE) for health care workers during the COVOD-19 pandemic to help save lives. That offer was completely ignored by then-Gov. Cuomo.
Facing that continual attack from elected state officials, it’s easy to see why Georgia’s sunshine and firearm-friendly environment was too good to ignore.
Friendly Leaders React
Following D’Arcy’s announcement, there were plenty of pro-Second Amendment, pro-industry elected officials coming out in support of RemArms and its workers.
U.S. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, the highest-ranking Republican official in the state, offered choice words for the governor and her harmful policies.
“It is because of New York Democrats’ unconstitutional gun grab policies that the oldest gun manufacturer in the country has been run out of the state,” GOP Conference Chair Stefanik said. “Hochul must stop her unconstitutional assault on the Second Amendment now.”
My full statement on America’s oldest gun manufacturer Remington Arms leaving New York State. pic.twitter.com/I8HH88NnS5
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) November 30, 2023
New York state Senator Joe Griffo, and state Assemblymen Robert Smullen and Brian Miller, all Republicans, offered a joint statement, saying in part, “Unfortunately, like we have seen all too often in New York, burdensome regulations, crippling taxes and problematic energy and other policies continue to force businesses and companies to flee the state, taking jobs and livelihoods with them.”
Republican state Senator Mark Walczyk added, “Albany Democrats and their failed policies are directly responsible for the closure of this facility and the unemployment of roughly 250-300 New Yorkers.”
Twenty and Counting
The decision by RemArms to formally and finally exit the Empire State, while sad, isn’t all that surprising considering all the hostility coming from the state. The departure matches an ongoing trend of storied and historic firearm manufacturers leaving the Northeast and planting new roots in the South in more gun-friendly and welcoming states. RemArms marks at least the 20th firearm business to do so in recent years.
Firearm manufacturers are showing state elected officials they’re willing to invest their future in states that respect the firearm industry and the contributions it makes. Here’s a running list of those companies:
Alabama
- Kimber expanded production to Troy, over Yonkers, N.Y. It later relocated its corporate headquarters to Alabama.
Georgia
- Remington Firearms announced it will establish a global headquarters, research and development and expand production in La Grange. RemArms made their recent announcement that all Ilion, New York, manufacturing operations will move to La Grange as well.
- Taurus moved production to Bainbridge, Ga., from South Florida in 2019.
Iowa
- Les Baer moved from restrictive Illinois to LeClaire, Iowa, in 2007.
- Lewis Machine & Tool Company (LMT) left Illinois after 40 years to relocate to Iowa in 2019.
Florida
- Dark Storm Industries moved some operations from Oakdale, N.Y., to Merritt Island, Fla., and is considering relocating to other Florida communities, as well as in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas.
Mississippi
- Olin Corporation’s Winchester Ammunition moved most production from East Alton, Ill., to Oxford in 2011.
North Carolina
- Sturm, Ruger and Co. expanded production in Mayodan, N.C., in 2013.
Pennsylvania
- Kahr Arms moved their headquarters to Greely, Penn., from New York after the state rushed through passage of the SAFE Act. And pulling most of its manufacturing out of Worcester, Massachusetts.
South Carolina
- American Tactical Imports relocated 100 jobs and its manufacturing from Rochester, N.Y., to Summerville, S.C., in 2013.
- PTR Industries left Connecticut for Aynor in 2013, where it set up shop.
Tennessee
- Beretta moved firearm production and engineering and design to Gallatin, Tenn., from Maryland in 2015 over concerns of increasingly strict gun control legislation.
- Smith & Wesson announced it was moving the company headquarters and some production to Maryville in 2021. It held a ribbon cutting ceremony in October.
Texas
- Mossberg expanded production in Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2013, instead of growing its New Haven, Conn., plant.
- Colt Competition moved from Canby, Ore., to Breckenridge, Texas, in 2013.
Wyoming
- Magpul Industries left Boulder, Colo., after the state passed magazine restrictions and moved production to Laramie, Wyo.
- Weatherby Inc.’s Adam Weatherby announced at SHOT Show in 2018 that he was moving the company from California to Sheridan, Wyo.
- Accessories maker HiViz announced in 2013 they were leaving Fort Collins, Colo., over restrictive gun control legislation to Laramie.
- Stag Arms announced in 2019 they were opening their new facility in Cheyenne, Wyo., after leaving their former headquarters in New Britain, Conn.
Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
I wonder how many voted themselves outta a job
Likely a number of them vote straight ticket D. However, Biden and his leftist handlers and co-conspirators are working overtime to destroy that traditionally cozy relationship.
Never underestimate the stupidity of the American public.
The stupid new yorkers are just like the stupid West Virginia people. Obama publicly said his new rules and regulations would bankrupt the coal industry. And yet West Virginia still voted Obama???
You get what you voted for. You voted to be unemployed. Because you voted for the “D”, before your own self-interests.
There is reason I think West Virginia’s are stupid. And I can say the same thing about the Jews in New York City. They’re just a stupid.
Not everyone in New York is a pro-gun control nut job. It’s just the crooks in Albany that unlawfully pass unconstitutional legislation that is the problem. Upstate New York (not counting Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany) unequivocally supports gun rights, but downstate only has Suffolk and Staten Island as pro 2nd-Amendment. Discounting a majority of the state’s population as ‘stupid’ is ignorant. More people in New York support the 2nd Amendment than you think. We’re just behind enemy lines and we’re NOT obeying unconstitutional laws, which should never be followed.
It gets worse in New York. Now, all ammunition purchased in the state requires an ID, including law enforcement. The point of no return has been crossed….again.
“There is reason I think West Virginia’s are stupid“
“West Virginia’s“?
At least most West Virginians know that apostrophes indicate possession and not plurality.
And, under Joe Biden’s administration, West Virginia is exporting record amounts of coal, just ask the Republican governor:
“CHARLESTON, WV — Gov. Jim Justice announced today that West Virginia’s export market grew for the third consecutive year in 2022 to a value of $7.6 billion, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s recent trade statistics. This marks a 20% increase over 2021, with an additional $1.4 billion in exports.“
https://governor.wv.gov/News/press-releases/2023/Pages/West-Virginia-exports-increase-by-over-20-percent,-state-delivers-second-largest-amount-of-coal-in-United-State.aspx#:~:text=Way%20to%20go%20West%20Virginia,significant%20export%2C%20totaling%20%243.8%20billion.
They need all that coal to power the electric plants so there is enough energy for all the EV Green veehickles that will save the planet buy reducing carbon emissions.
i think you are blind. take a look at west virginia now and tell us it’s a blue state still.
Like those jerkoff pipeline workers.
Their union management made bank and that’s what really matters.
Too many (D) voters are temporally locked to a lost period of time that in retrospect never existed the way they remember it. JFK is dead and it’s time to move on.
I fret not for the Empire State as tens of thousands of “refugees” have been imported at government expense to fill the void left by Remington and others.
That is totally supported by the voters who vote for the politicians that support open borders. I’m glad that the republican governors “are spreading the wealth around”.
They will spread YOUR wealth around.
If you disagree, there are dacian’s execution pits to change your mind and living status.
Kimber next! Get out while you can. I might actually be interested in buying a Kimber that doesn’t say “New York”.
Kimber expanded production to Troy, over Yonkers, N.Y. It later relocated its corporate headquarters to Alabama.
Kimber already made the move out of Yonkers N.Y., i place where i grew up and was firearm friendly back in the 60s. Alabama WELCOMED Kimber and the employees that were able to make the move to Alabama.
“Alabama WELCOMED Kimber and the employees“
Yep, Alabama is so much safer than New York:
“Crime Index – Alabama, USA has crime index above the national average and New York, USA has crime index below the national average.“
https://www.nextburb.com/us/compare-states/new%20york-vs-alabama/crime-rates/
Red State crime occurs OVERWHELMINGLY in Stinking Blue Cities within the state. You are not well informed.
to Louis
In reality the crime rate in Blue States with Blue big cities are lower than Red States so your wild speculation on crime is a total falshood.
wrong Waco daco.
it is a city to city issue, as a lot of big cities do have more people per square mile then the suburbs and countryside.
It’s no different than the bigoted Gun Control military wing of the democRat Party known as the kkk running defenseless Blacks off their land, sabotaging voting, holding public office, etc…Like Slavery there are grounds to Abolish Gun Control…Ain’t that right, LKB?
@AnyBosch:
Careful!
My two Micro9 magazine’s both vomited up all their cartuchos into my lap when I loaded them. And NO, I didn’t try to Overload them.
How can I trust this sidearm? I can’t carry it anymore. If anybody has a line on mags made by OTHER THAN Kimber, please enlighten me. Its a neat peestole.
-Banana
was gonna suggest p938 mags, i’ve read they’re not interchangeable. worth a try. also heard you can slot a 290 mag to fit, which holds 8rds.
see if mec gar has them.
@tsbhoa.p.jr
Thank you for your informative reply. Very kind of you to help.
I often wonder WHY ON EARTH multiple weapons designers can’t understand that magazines should be generic. The marketplace will sort out the winners and losers. I imagine each manufacturers are counting on follow-on purchases.
As a senior technician, soon to become a real live junior engineer, my boss Wally gave me some of the best advice ever:
“A good engineer knows when to steal!” Which really meant “Stop reinventing everything!”
So, we would then only require a handful of designs:
1911 in 45 ACP
Garand en-bloc
9mm single stack by:?
Double-Stack 9mm: Browning, now Glock. OK, Glock in 40 too.
AR IN 5.56/300BLK
AK in 7.62
M1A1 in 7.62
FAL in 7.62
COLT Baby Browning in 25
Broomhandle Mauser in 7.62 (Oh, yeah, I want the whole pistol back…I NEVER should have let that one go!)
Sig P39 in 357SIG
“I often wonder WHY ON EARTH multiple weapons designers can’t understand that magazines should be generic. I imagine each manufacturers are counting on follow-on purchases.”
Vertical integration is an age-old business model. Much like the automotive companies, to stay alive a steady income stream must exist. The base product is not a reliable income stream. An income stream comes from sales of parts and accessories, after the product sale. Forever, manufacturers have tried to create proprietary lockdowns, and discourage buyers from using the secondary market. .
Never heard of an H&K product failing to function reliably. Yes, I stand guilty of being an H&K fan boy. As their advertisement says, “In a world of compromise, some men don’t.” Am I a tough guy? No, certainly not. I just like reliable weaponry.
SAD … more than 200 years. Ungrateful gun-ignorant New Yorkers
Out of that list I’ve bought 2 gats recently. Taurus G3x & a Maverick88. Sad about 200 year old companies leaving! Dimscum© states cops should be boycotted by every gat company🙄
The larger the business (particularly with manufacturing), the harder it can be to move and a very significant undertaking at that. Skilled employees that have their lives & family staked to an area may not be up for temporarily upending their lives to move. Family, kids, schools, weather. Everyone would have their reasons for staying or moving. Smaller to medium sized business (I would venture to guess) don’t really want to mass lay-off employees to move the business due to the potential bad publicity/public opinion. Some things take time.
That said, I have to question why Savage Arms is still in Massachusetts and Mossberg still has facilities in Connecticut.
And much of S&W in the NE (CT?)
Meanwhile SIG is still hanging out in New Hampshire, I wonder if they would ever move? They seem like they have grown their operations there, but they are doing a lot of government contracts so they may not be too concerned.
Democrats: always looking out for the working class
The facility can now be used to house migrants, for indoor marijuana growing or both.
I’m not sorry. I care the most for my own family. And I care the most for the state I live in. New york State isn’t the only state, that has turned itself into a sh!t hole.
New york is being depopulated. And anyone currently moving there, most of them are going to be welfare recipients. Most are illiterate in their native language of spanish. No provable job skills. No record of education in technical skills.
They will make great minimum wage servants. For all the libertarians liberals and the left who support open borders.
It’s a plan Chris T.
Theres no way to compete with China when 40hours@ min wage equals two years of Chin’s wages.
China doesn’t belong to the Illuminati. The Illuminati is losing its hold, it’s got to get the power back. Wars do not work anymore.
I was thinking the same thing when I heard about it. Has to have devastated Ilion.
City scuz doing what city scuz does…
You voted them in, now vote them out!
Vote LOUDER.
theBiden cant hear you.
Dumb Yankees.
The South is making gunms again.
It was blind greed that caused the corrupt CEO’s to move to Georgia not anti-gun laws
Remington’s CEO greed mongers move to Capitalvanian Georgia had zero to do with firearms laws.
Rather it was a move to the worker slave state of Capitalvanian Georgia where Remington can pay dirt cheap wages, give workers no benefits or retirement or have any meaningful workplace safety rules.
Remington failed not because of high labor costs but because of management raping the profits and using none of the profits to improve quality control, introduce new firearms, or even making spare parts available to the consumer direct from the factory.
Remington pawed the spare parts sales off on distributors who in turn only stocked high demand parts leaving the less popular parts totally unavailable to the hapless consumer who was now stuck with a product he could not even get parts for. No wonder so many people stopped even buying anything Remington made. Even a retarded Ape would have known what the outcome would be when Remington let management rape every penny of profits for their own salaries.
@Mr. Marsupial One: Regarding Dem Aluminattis:
It’s REALLY SCARY when what has been tirelessly yapped at as a figment of imagination turns out to be the most logical explanation of our situation.
My Compliments…and OUCH!
I live about 35 miles from the Remmington plant. It is a crying shame what the Sandy Hook “settlement” (should read extortion). I ruined a good company and an excellent gun manufacturer.
“I ruined a good company.”
???
Why shame on you.
Sandy Hook at zero to do with Remington Moving. Remington would have been sued no matter what state they manufactured the guns in when the mass murder by assault rifle took place. And moving to Georgia will not prevent future lawsuits either.
In reality moving to low slave wage Southern States is nothing new. Such states often have right to work laws which bust unions letting greed monger corporations pay slave wages with no benefits.
No, Remington moved because WalterEBeverly ruined a good company.
He said so himself.
Ohio Man.
Never heard of an H&K product failing to function reliably. Yes, I stand guilty of being an H&K fan boy. As their advertisement says, “In a world of compromise, some men don’t.” Am I a tough guy? No, certainly not. I just like reliable weaponry.
remington products are going to be a lil more suspect than normal ass they train up a totally fresh batch of technicians.
I wouldn’t trust any gun-related stats coming out of NY, NJ, MA, CT, RI, VT, ME, or PA, at all.