RemArms follows Smith & Wesson lead, flees liberal NY for more gun-friendly confines
by: Pat Droney 2024-02-23
ILION, NY- The residents of the small community of Ilion are discovering firsthand that the anti-gun stance adopted by New York's legislature would result in numerous job losses. This is evident following Remington's decision to relocate to Georgia, marking the end of over 200 years of the oldest firearms manufacturer's presence in New York, Fox News reported.
Ilion, located approximately 230 miles northwest of New York City, has been identified with Remington for over two centuries, and with the move, that history is now gone.
“Two hundred and eight years of history. Gone…gone,” Ilion Mayor John P. Stephens told The New York Times. “Ilion is Remington. Remington is Ilion.”
The move to relocate the remaining portions of the company shouldn’t come as a surprise since RemArms, the current version of Remington Arms, announced last year to union officials that the company would be pulling up stakes and ending New York manufacturing operations effective this March. The remaining operations are moving to Georgia, where company officials say the firearms industry is supported and welcomed.
Residents of the small community are now bracing for life without Remington, which some say will take a 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,” said Jim Conover, a Remington retiree who started with the company in 1964, to the Associated Press.
A current employee, Frank “Rusty” Brown, told the AP that not only had he worked at Remington, but “generations of his family” also worked there while noting that both he and his wife would now be out of work due to the move.
“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.”
It is believed over 300 locals will lose their jobs due to the closing and relocation. Ilion only has a population of 7,600, Stephens told the Daily Mail that he expects the village to lose roughly $1 million in revenue with Remington’s departure, a number that doesn’t include the economic impact on other local businesses.
“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 Daily Mail.
“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,” Stephens added.
Remington has been sold thrice in the past 31 years, once in 1993, again in 2007, and finally in 2020. The company has been slammed with financial hits, including bankruptcy filings in 2018 and 2020. The most significant hit came in 2022 when Remington was forced to pay $73 million as part of a lawsuit filed by surviving family members of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.
Republican lawmakers slammed New York’s “progressive” gun laws for Remington packing up and leaving.
“Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), the third-ranking majority member in the House, slammed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in December.
“Hochul must stop her unconstitutional assault on the Second Amendment now,” Stefanik said at the time, according to the Times Union.
Meanwhile, New York State Sen. Mark Walczyk blamed New York’s anti-gun laws, in particular the Gun Industry Liability Law, for chasing Remington to Georgia. The law was signed in 2021 by disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), which allows gun manufacturers to be sued if they “knowingly or recklessly create, maintain, or contribute” to violence.
Last year, Remington’s CEO said the company was “excited” about escaping New York to the more 2A-friendly confines of Georgia.
“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.”
Remington is the second major gun manufacturer to flee anti-gun northeastern states. Last year, Smith & Wesson moved from Springfield, Massachusetts, which it had called home for over 170 years, to Tennessee, citing many of the same reasons.