Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
 

SecularMotion

(7,981 posts)
Thu Jan 28, 2016, 08:34 AM Jan 2016

How America's Gun Manufacturers Are Quietly Getting Richer Off Taxpayers

In January 2013, a month after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the state of New York passed gun control legislation that included a ban on the retail sale of assault weapons. Soon after, Remington Outdoor Company, the maker of the Bushmaster assault rifle used in the massacre, announced that it would lay off workers at its 200-year-old factory in Ilion and move production to Huntsville, Alabama. Then CEO George Kollitides explained in a letter to New York officials that the move was brought on by "state policies affecting use of our products."

The gun lobby crowed about political payback: "We hope that sends a very strong message," remarked then National Rifle Association president Jim Porter, on a NRA radio show. What Porter didn't mention was what Alabama had done to sweeten the deal: By relocating to Huntsville, Remington, a $1-billion firearms conglomerate owned by the Manhattan private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, would receive state and local grants, tax breaks, and other incentives worth approximately $69 million—the equivalent of getting about $14 from every resident of Alabama.

Since 2003, state and local governments from Alabama to Tennesee have given more than $120 million worth of taxpayer funds to at least seven major firearms companies, according to research by Mother Jones. Most of those subsidies—nearly $100 million—have been pledged just in past three years by states seeking to lure gun producers from the Northeast, where new firearm regulations have angered industry leaders.

"I've had CEOs in New England tell me that the offers from states' economic development teams are so extraordinary that they could essentially move their factories for free," Larry Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Federation, told Guns & Ammo. "In some cases they've received these offers almost daily over extended periods of time."

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/01/gun-manufacturers-subsidies-southern-states
11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
How America's Gun Manufacturers Are Quietly Getting Richer Off Taxpayers (Original Post) SecularMotion Jan 2016 OP
States do the same for all kinds of companies TeddyR Jan 2016 #1
That's just evil... discntnt_irny_srcsm Jan 2016 #2
OMG!! States use tax funds/incentives to lure manufacturing companies to their states?!? jmg257 Jan 2016 #3
Jobs are still important to some folks it seems.....how odd. ileus Jan 2016 #4
Wow!! Mother Jones has discovered tax incentives! Stop the Presses! DonP Jan 2016 #5
wow, who knew Duckhunter935 Jan 2016 #6
When Magpul and others were chased out of their home states many Controllers cheered. Nuclear Unicorn Jan 2016 #7
It's simple really discntnt_irny_srcsm Jan 2016 #8
That's pretty much what it smells like to me. n/t DonP Jan 2016 #9
"Gun Lobby" could be Formula 1, developers and any number of High Tech whiz bangs... Eleanors38 Jan 2016 #10
You left out the part... beevul Jan 2016 #11
 

TeddyR

(2,493 posts)
1. States do the same for all kinds of companies
Thu Jan 28, 2016, 08:46 AM
Jan 2016

This is a common way to attract manufacturers and create jobs for your state. Do you see something wrong with this?

discntnt_irny_srcsm

(18,470 posts)
2. That's just evil...
Thu Jan 28, 2016, 08:57 AM
Jan 2016

...what those bad politicians in the Northeast did. Passing laws that are unfriendly to the most popular type of rifle in the country and the firearm used least in murders and assaults is heinous. Then refusing to counter offers from other states to keep people working just for the sake of political posturing is insulting.



I also can't imagine why those companies would pay attention to the bottom line and do something shocking like controlling costs.



I mean really? Acting surprised that your head hurts after you hit it on the wall is one thing. Being surprised that the wall is just going on about its business is well amusing.

jmg257

(11,996 posts)
3. OMG!! States use tax funds/incentives to lure manufacturing companies to their states?!?
Thu Jan 28, 2016, 09:08 AM
Jan 2016

Its a shame the Northeast, which used to be heavy with builders, is losing so many job oppurtunities due to politics.

"Beretta Joins the Southward Migration of Major Manufacturing

On July 27, 2014, Beretta announced it is moving all manufacturing operations from MD southward to TN. They are far from the first to go. Kahr Arms left NY for PA. PTR Industries left CT and American Tactical Imports left NY – both for SC. And, Remington Arms, O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Ruger, Colt, Stag Arms announced expansions in southern states, including Alabama, Florida, and Texas."

It’s not an uncommon theme in 2014. In 2013, we saw the rise of massive legislation in CT, NY, and MD. Several small to mid-sized companies made moves that garnered at least local headlines. The larger manufacturers, including Beretta, started announcing expansions and individual product shifts. But 2014 has now become a year for shifting entire manufacturing operations out of the northeast to primarily southern states."

 

DonP

(6,185 posts)
5. Wow!! Mother Jones has discovered tax incentives! Stop the Presses!
Thu Jan 28, 2016, 11:06 AM
Jan 2016

Next thing you know auto manufacturers, printing companies and sub-assembly fabricators will want to get in on the deal.

Can the Mother Jones editors really be that stupid and clueless, or do they assume their readership is?

Gotta be one or the other, based on their steady flow of provably dumb articles related to firearms.

But anyway, we've been told right here on DU, by one of your co-hosts in Castle Bansalot that it's a good thing when a firearms company moves out of state. Never mind the hundred of skilled labor/tax paying jobs going away and the businesses they support.

In fact the phrase used was; "Good riddance to the makers of those death spewers, Nobody needs those kinds of jobs anyway and many more people will move to those states because they don't make guns there anymore".

Ah, I love what passes for gun controller economic logic.

 

Duckhunter935

(16,974 posts)
6. wow, who knew
Thu Jan 28, 2016, 01:20 PM
Jan 2016

Tax incentives were being used to lure businesses. It helps when your jobs and tax revenue are not wanted in your home state. Their loss.

Nuclear Unicorn

(19,497 posts)
7. When Magpul and others were chased out of their home states many Controllers cheered.
Thu Jan 28, 2016, 01:46 PM
Jan 2016

"We don't want their murderous industries!" we were told unceasingly. Now we're being told the loss of tax receipts and jobs is bad.

The ethics on this seem confused -- or, at least, the pretend ethicists are.

discntnt_irny_srcsm

(18,470 posts)
8. It's simple really
Thu Jan 28, 2016, 01:53 PM
Jan 2016

If guns are involved (real or fake), it's evil.
Solutions to gun problems (real or imaginary) are evil.
The results of solutions to gun problems (real or imaginary) are evil... even if they're formulated and implemented by gun-control.

The gun, gun owner, gun lobby, gun maker and gun seller is/are always wrong and always to blame.


 

Eleanors38

(18,318 posts)
10. "Gun Lobby" could be Formula 1, developers and any number of High Tech whiz bangs...
Thu Jan 28, 2016, 02:49 PM
Jan 2016

which have been given hand-outs in Austin and most everywhere else in the country. In case you haven't noticed, the offers to move plants from Point A to Point B is, for worse or worser, well-established, not an invention of Remington.

Beyond the pedestrian squander of the corporate state, is there a point? You did want Remington et àl to move away from some earth-based site of some symbolic importance, didn't you? Is it worth it to you?
 

beevul

(12,194 posts)
11. You left out the part...
Thu Jan 28, 2016, 05:12 PM
Jan 2016

You left out the part that claims that a majority of voters from 'Alabama to Tennesee' are against it.

Because a majority of voters from ''Alabama to Tennesee' aren't actually against it and no such claim was made?

Oh, I see.

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Gun Control & RKBA»How America's Gun Manufac...