Citing Second Amendment, Connecticut-Based Mossberg Expands Manufacturing in Texas

A few weeks ago, famous gun maker
Beretta announced it was
moving all of its manufacturing capacity to Tennessee in the
wake of the passage of new gun restrictions by state officials in
its old American base of Maryland.

“While we were able in the Maryland House of Delegates to
reverse some of those obstructive provisions, the possibility that
such restrictions might be reinstated in the future leaves us very
worried about the wisdom of maintaining a firearm manufacturing
factory in the State,” said Jeff Cooper, the company’s general
manager.

I missed it at the time, but shotgun-maker Mossberg had already
said it would be expanding capacity thousands of miles from its
headquarters in gun-banning Connecticut. That company also cited
the political climate as a reason for the shift.

“Investing in Texas was an easy decision,”
said CEO Iver Mossberg. “It’s a state that is not only
committed to economic growth but also honors and respects the
Second Amendment and the firearm freedoms it guarantees for our
customers.”

Connecticut has not only suffered the passage of onerous gun
restrictions in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, but also

massive defiance of the same, creating tens of thousands of
instant felons. That has officials and their supporters among the
pundit class very upset, with the editorial board of the
Hartford Courant demanding mass arrests. That’s not
realistic—it’s utterly insane—but there’s no doubt the state is no
longer the firearms-friendly place it was when the likes of Colt
and Winchester chose it as home.

Mossberg also cited Texas’ “low taxes” and “smart regulations,”
but that just added a little more sting to the company’s slap at
Connecticut. Chief Executive magazine
ranks Texas as the best state in the country for business, with
Tennessee, selected by Beretta, in third place. Connecticut comes
in at 44 and Maryland at 41.

Adding a poor tax and regulatory environment to hostility to a
specific industry is pretty damned near a guaranteed recipe for
driving that industry elsewhere—and making it unlikely to return.
While Mossberg will keep its headquarters in North Haven,
Connecticut, for now, over 90 percent of its manufacturing capacity
is in the Lone Star state.