Connecticut Senator: Inviting Gun Manufacturers to Relocate Shows Why Gun Laws are Needed

Connecticut’s senior senior bristled at a Mississippi lawmaker’s invitation for gun manufacturers to relocate from the Nutmeg State to the South.

Mississippi speaker of the state House Philip Gunn (R) wrote to gun manufacturers, including three in Connecticut, extending an invitation to relocate.

“Gun manufacturers are under attack in anti-Second Amendment states. Today, I wrote a letter to the CEOs of leading firearm manufacturers, including Magpul and Colt, urging them to relocate to Mississippi where their industry and jobs will be appreciated,” Gunn said in a statement yesterday. “Spread this message to help us create a grassroots movement so they know they’ll be welcomed here with open arms.”

Colt is located in Hartford, Conn., where its been since the company’s founding in the mid-19th century.

“You have provided many jobs to the state of Connecticut for many years and now because of national politics you are being demonized,” Gunn wrote to Colt CEO Dennis Veilleux. “…We need more businesses to establish home base in Mississippi.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called the letter a “preposterous pitch” that shows why gun control is needed.

“In deciding to stay or locate here, companies will consider that our state has the best and most skilled workforce in the nation, a superlative quality of life and a superior education system. We support second amendment rights and responsible gun ownership, far from demonizing fire arms products made here. We have supported those constitutional rights along with lawful activities like recreational shooting and hunting,” Blumenthal said.

“This preposterous pitch to companies with long, successful histories in our state shows the need for national standards and statutes to reduce gun violence. Competition among states for less protective laws is a race to the bottom that should be avoided,” he continued. “The poison of illegal gun trafficking respects no state boundaries and threatens to cause more horrific tragedies like Newtown and the 1,900 gun violence deaths that have occurred since then. Responsible gun manufacturers and owners have welcomed reasonable, common sense measures to reduce gun violence and I will continue to reach out to both groups.”