Posted on 02/21/2024 4:53:21 AM PST by bert
The Remington gun factory nestled in New York’s Mohawk Valley is ready to shutter its doors and move to Georgia after more than 200 years in the Empire State.
"Two hundred and eight years of history. Gone, gone," Ilion, New York, Mayor John P. Stephens told the New York Times. "Ilion is Remington. Remington is Ilion."
Remington is the nation’s oldest gun manufacturer and told union officials late last year that company chiefs at RemArms, the current version of Remington Arms, made the decision to end its New York manufacturing come March. The remaining operations located in Ilion will move to Georgia, where company leaders say the firearms industry is supported and welcomed.
Residents of the New York village, which is located roughly 230 miles northwest of New York City, are bracing for the manufacturer to officially move, which some say will take part of the town’s identity with it.
"When Remington leaves, it’s not going to be like a facility leaving, it’s going to be like part of your family has moved off," Jim Conover, a retired Remington employee who began his career there in 1964, told The Associated Press.
A furnace operator and technician at the factory, Frank "Rusty" Brown, told the outlet that he and generations of his family worked at the facility and noted he and his wife will be out of jobs.
Frank "Rusty" Brown Frank "Rusty" Brown poses for a picture at the union office, across the street from the Remington Arms Co. compound, in Ilion, New York, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
"My mom worked there. My dad worked there. My wife works there with me now. My daughter works there with me now. My second daughter works there with me now. And my son-in-law works there," Brown said. "So it’s a double-hit for me and my wife: two of us out of a job."
The closure of the New York location will result in about 300 people losing their jobs in a town of roughly 7,600. The mayor of Ilion told the Daily Mail that the village is expected to lose $1 million in revenue due to the move, in addition to other local businesses taking a financial hit.
''It's like the town is losing its soul. It's almost like losing a family member. That's the thing that people are struggling with, the nostalgia, the history. It feels like we are losing the identity of the town," Stephens told the outlet.
"I've spoken to a few businesses, that's the part financially that's going to hurt. Even if it's only 300 people, they still buy gas, they still buy shoes. That's going to be a hit to the local businesses," he added.
The company, which was sold in 1993, again in 2007 and again in 2020, was rocked by financial woes in recent years, including filing for bankruptcy in 2018 and 2020. In 2022, the company paid $73 million as part of a lawsuit stemming from the Sandy Hook mass shooting in 2012.
REMINGTON ARMS DECLARES BANKRUPTCY DESPITE SURGING GUN DEMAND
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik and state Sen. Mark Walczyk both previously blamed New York’s restrictive gun laws for the move.
"Hochul must stop her unconstitutional assault on the Second Amendment now," Stefanik said in December, according to the Times Union.
Walczyk pinned blame on New York’s Gun Industry Liability Law for pushing the company out of the state. The law, which was signed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2021, allows gun makers to be sued if they "knowingly or recklessly create, maintain or contribute" to violence.
GUN ID LEGISLATION MAY TRIGGER EXODUS OF GUNMAKERS REMINGTON, COLT
The company's CEO said in a statement late last year that they are "excited" about the move to a state that embraces the Second Amendment.
SMITH & WESSON OFFICIALLY MOVES HEADQUARTERS OUT OF BLUE STATE TO TENNESSEE
"We are very excited to come to Georgia, a state that not only welcomes business but enthusiastically supports and welcomes companies in the firearms industry," RemArms CEO Ken D'Arcy said in a statement. "Everyone involved in this process has shown how important business is to the state and how welcoming they are to all business, including the firearms industry."
LOL! Keep voting union and Demoncrat and this is what you get, FOOL! BTW, if I were Remington, I'd make damn sure to hire new (red) blood and leave the parasites, union thugs, liberals, socialists, and demoncrats behind. NOT welcome in GA!
Look at the man’s hat
The apparent goal for upstate New York is to be like East Germany in the 70s.
Sixty years ago when President Kennedy was murdered by a commie with an Italian made 5 shot bolt action army surplus rifle, the congressmen of the NE states immediately called for a ban on the import of such rifles, “to stop crime.” They got the ban in 1968.
It was later found that their hatred of army surplus rifles was that they were trying to protect their local gun makers from CHEAP COMPETITION as an army surplus could cost as much as $15 while a rifle made locally would cost $95.
The same thing happened in 1968 with the murder of Bobby Kennedy by a Palestinian Immigrant using a US made cheap Iver Johnson revolver. Politicians tried to make it sound as if it was a foreign made “Saturday Night Special” and the import of them was banned in 1968.
The anti-gun movement grew till now even home grown firearm makers are catching heat from the very politicians who should be protecting the industry instead of driving them out of state.
I am sure that the NY government or feds will convert the abandoned buildings for illegal alien housing, complete with armories for weapons storage and training.
They moved to LaGrange. The entire Columbus, LaGrange, Auburn, Opeleika area has become a big manufacturing center.
Hyundai, Kia, their suppliers really got things going.
Only 45 minutes to an hour from Atlanta so travel to and from is easy. I-85 south from the airport.
“Florida is New Jersey with stucco and palm trees.”
NOT
“There was a map of states receiving the money said to be for Ukraine on TV yesterday. “
The money was never said to be for Ukraine. It was always designated for purchase of US arms to be sent to Ukraine.
For now, Ilion isn't."
I'd like to buy a vowel, Pat?
Ilion may well have a soul, but the State does not. No government does.
Remington should have gone to Idaho instead of Georgia. Georgia is part of the South, where the work ethic frankly sucks. Workers are only interested in putting in their 40 hours with as little work as possible.
It’s like many “blue states.” Blue in the fact that the number of leftists in just a few big urban cities outnumber the rest of the entire state. California, Oregon, NYS, etc.
Think of those cities as medieval vassal TYRANT strongholds dominating the surrounding landscape. The only real way to overcome them is to siege them.
Ping.
Good call. Hope it's somewhere far from Atlanta, a Post-Floyd Lawlessness Empowerment Zone.
I saw a video yesterday of Chinese illegals at a firing range practicing with AR-style rifles. It was mentioned that it is believed that there are one (maybe more) divisions of ChiComs already here in the USA.
Why does an illegal have access to any type of weapon and why was it not taken from him?
I once had a business client in LaGrange. Beautiful red clay countryside around there. Or it was, years ago when my ex was at Benning. There were still wooden cabins with big iron pots in the yard, and those were white families.
Poor bastards in Ilion have the historical misfortune of being in a country run by New York City.
“It’s like many “blue states.”
Blue states just as welcome as blue balls.
Chinese target practice with Biden provided pre-positioned caches of AR’s/AK’s. God knows what else is out there for them and the go signal. Probably the equivalent of a reinforced infantry division of them here already.
A couple weeks ago, the RATS on a house committee voted “NO!” to a bill being considered to deny illegal aliens the right to keep and bear arms.
These are the same RATS who are trying to deny citizens the rights of the 2nd Amendment.
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