Posted on 06/28/2022 3:46:10 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
For centuries, some of the biggest names in firearms — Colt, Winchester, Smith & Wesson — have made their homes in Western Massachusetts and Connecticut, a region that grew so rife with gunmakers it earned the nickname “Gun Valley.”
The signature weapons that powered America’s wars from the muskets of 1812 to the M1 Garand of World War II to the M16 in Vietnam were made by the millions here, as were the pistols on the hips of law enforcement officers across the land.
To many, it’s a surprising distinction for a region that reliably votes blue and sports some of the nation’s strictest gun laws. But you can thank General George Washington for that. He planted the seeds for Gun Valley even before he became the father of his country, choosing Springfield, Mass., as the place to store the fledgling Continental Army’s cannons, muskets, and other supplies — an inland trove safely out of reach of the British Navy.
Mass manufacture of weapons would follow, centered around the Springfield Armory and the many firms it spawned. In 2010, Massachusetts and Connecticut, along with New York and New Hampshire, produced nearly half the firearms for non-military sale in the entire country.
But what Washington long ago launched, the economy and politics are taking away. Gun Valley is rapidly declining as more conservative states lure gun manufacturers away with promises of cheaper labor and energy costs, generous incentives, and more favorable gun laws. Northeastern politicians, meanwhile, have increasingly targeted these companies for their roles in perpetuating gun violence — even as these same officials regret the erosion of the industrial workforce gun-making has sustained.
By 2020, the four Northeastern states’ share of non-military firearms production plummeted in a decade from nearly half to just 18 percent of the nation’s total.
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonglobe.com ...
I hope some of them open up shop in Florida.
Didn’t know that Kimber made guns in Alabama.
My friend sees a rabbit hole in your post. Happy forkin. lol
Smith and Wesson was one of the lead employers in Springfield MA. The state is letting them move their headquarters and a couple hundred manufacturing jobs without so much as a “please stay.”
And it’s not like there are a ton of other good paying blue collar jobs in town.
The city will turn into more of a dump. And it is difficult to imagine it being MORE of a dump.
The landscape around Springfield was literally designed around gun manufacturing. Local rivers and lakes were harnessed to generate the power to build guns in the 1790s. I would be the folks that live around those lakes and near Rifle Street have no clue why it is the way it is.
Many cannons were made in Chicopee MA during the civil war.
The Armory and Smith and Wesson were literally two blocks from each other. Now, if you tried to walk those two blocks after dusk there is a good chance you would be stabbed.
There is no hope for Springfield. There were many companies from Springfield that left. IIRC Springfield had Smith & Wesson, Indian Motorcycles, Springfield Armory, Duryea Motors and even some Rolls Royce, Miriam Webster Dictionary, Friendlies Ice Cream, and Barney & Berry ice skates - the first metal ice skates, and was the birthplace of Basketball. George Washington choose the site of the Springfield Armory. The place is now usually on the list of the most dangerous cities to live in.
Before George Washington chose Springfield as the site of the Springfield Armory, Springfield was a major shipping center. It was down river from Canada and northern New York and Vermont that sent timber logs and barges down from the north. All of it had to be offloaded in Springfield and shipped by land from there - east to Boston and south to Connecticut and New York. There was a lot of $$ passing through there. BTW it was the home of Absorbine Junior too.
Many factions in the Unite States don’t care about our industrial and manufacturing capabilities as a nation.
Here are two of them, one in each of the two main political parties.
1) Environmental zealots in the Democrat Party.
2) Free Trade ideologues in the Republican Party.
Both played a huge part in where are supply chains are today.
Yep, terminally stupid politicians.
Beretta had a factory in Maryland and when that state passed magazine limitations the company announced it would move. The state said “yeah, right”.
Beretta replied “Beretta doesn’t bluff” and moved.
A bunch of libs versus a family owned company founded in 1532.
They moved within the last 18 months.
Me, too. Some of the manufacturers were in some of the very worst states.
Ruger is still here in gun friendly NH.
no gun company should exist in a state where their employees are forbidden from owning their own product...
Dear Firearms Industry (and affiliated industries):
Come on down to WEST Virginia. We buy your products, and we want Joe Biden’s three letter word: J O B S.
Sincerely,
WV Mountaineers.
Don’t forget Walther - Fort Smith, AR. :)
Ruger is here, as is Sig Sauer.
Massachusetts and New York are a different story. Both states, apart from their anti-firearms governments also have very high taxes and anti-business attitudes.
You are correct that Springfield MA has problems typical of an urban area with shrinking employment and liberal government.
The Springfield Armory is open as a National Historical Site and a visit is well worth the time if you are in Western Massachusetts.
[Firearms manufacturers are welcome here in New Hampshire, and we have a large collection of machine shops and other specialty manufacturers to support them. We also have business friendly tax rates and no income tax for employees. ]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_United_States_presidential_election#Results_by_state
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_United_States_presidential_election#Results_by_state
My guess? These trends are why some gun makers have completely decamped to the South. They can read the writing on the wall, and want a state government that will go to bat for them rather than sign up to a blanket party.
Maine is a gun friendly state, as is NH and, shockingly, VT. Don’t let those southerner north east states harm the reputation of the good (well...better) states.
You could worry about trends in a lot of southern states too. I hope states with Roe v. Wade trigger laws see libs move out.
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