The oldest gunmaker in America will leave New York after more than 200 years in operation to the chagrin of the town it has supported and the excitement of some conservatives.
Remington will move its operations to Georgia in March after its home state enacted a series of more restrictive firearm regulations. Its New York factory will close on March 4.
Residents of Ilion, the town 230 miles northwest of New York City where the manufacturer operates, have mourned the news. Roughly 300 people will lose their jobs as a result of Remington’s departure and the town is expected to experience $1 million in revenue losses.
"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."
Remington first announced its intentions to move its headquarters to LaGrange, Georgia in November 2021. The company said it would spend $100 million over a five-year period opening a manufacturing facility and a research center. It estimated it would create 850 jobs.
“It’s not immediately known what incentives the state offered to woo the gunmaker, which ... has operations in Tennessee,” noted AJC Politics at the time. “The gunmaker could claim a range of state incentives that include an income tax break worth nearly $13 million over five years.”
Remington has faced a series of financial challenges in the last three decades.
“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,” reports Fox News. “In 2022, the company paid $73 million as part of a lawsuit stemming from the Sandy Hook mass shooting in 2012.”
Congresswoman Elise Stefanik of New York mourned Remington’s impending complete departure in a statement released in early February. The Republicans blamed the state’s firearm regulation and elected leadership for the loss of the business that operates in her district.
“It is because of New York Democrats’ unconstitutional gun grab policies that the oldest gun manufacturer in the country has been run out of the state,” said Stefanik. “I have spoken with local officials and Remington Arms union members in United Mine Workers of America, Local 717 about how we must stand up to New York’s failed unconstitutional gun bans. [Governor Kathy Hochul] must stop her unconstitutional assault on the Second Amendment now.”
Others have praised the manufacturer’s decision to end its operations in New York.
“This is the way,” said Ryan Fournier, the chairman of Students for Trump, on X on Feb. 20.
“It’s been a long time since yanks appreciated Remington,” said Congressman Mike Collins of Georgia on X on Feb. 21. “Welcome to the South. Welcome home.”
Other gunmakers have moved out of the Northeast, where gun regulations are often stricter than in other parts of America. Smith & Wesson, which was founded in New England in 1850, announced in October of 2021 that it would move its operations to Tennessee after Massachusetts proposed firearm regulations that would prevent the company from making products that account for 60% of its revenue.
“Our loyal employees are the reason for our success and are always our number one priority,” Chief Executive Mark Smith said in a statement. “We are deeply saddened by the impact that this difficult decision will have on so many of our dedicated employees, but in order to preserve future jobs and for the viability of our business in the long term, we are left with no choice but to relocate these functions to a state that does not propose burdensome restrictions on our company."
