Report: Connecticut gun manufacturers consider moving out

High taxes and strict laws encourage gun manufacturers to abandon Connecticut, according to a new report published last month.

“It’s directly related to regulations,”said Mark Rydzy, owner of the Pauway Company, during an interview with the Connecticut Post in July. “Every time a new series of gun laws goes into effect, it ends up changing everything.”

Connecticut’s lawmakers passed 19 new firearm regulations in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, according to the report, including an ban on semiautomatic rifles and bump stocks. Despite the legislative crackdown, federal data shows gun companies nearly doubled in the state between 2012 and 2016. Colt Manufacturing Company and Sturm, Ruger and Company — two of the most high-profile gun makers in the country — have long called Connecticut home.

“If gun-control legislation in Connecticut passes, the gun industry in Connecticut could become just that – history,” said Lawrence Keane, the senior vice president and general counsel for the Newtown-based National Shooting Sports Foundation. Keane’s comments came in response to Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s proposal to turn a former Colt factory into a national park, according to the newspaper.

Classic Carbines and Firearms Inc. already made the move to South Carolina in 2016. Gil Evans, a company salesman, told the newspaper “high taxes and strict gun laws” cemented the decision. To read more about Connecticut’s strained gun industry, click here to read the full report from the Connecticut Post.

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