(courtesy remington.com)

“Following a meeting between executives with the Freedom Group, which owns Remington Arms, and a group of state legislators, we’ve learned that Remington will move ahead with plans to invest $20 million into various upgrades at the plant,” cnycentral.com reports. In light of the firearms industry boycott of Empire State police purchases in protest against New York’s unconstitutional disarmament program (a.k.a., the SAFE Act), nothing. But that’s OK because “That investment was in the works before the passage of the New York Safe Act, which bans the sale of the Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle, which is made in New York State. Ilion Mayor John Stephens previously told CNY Central that he hopes Remington Arms stays in Ilion, ‘where they belong.'” Yes, it seems they deserve each other. More specifically . . .

Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi . . . says company executives remain upset with the passage of New York’s tough new gun laws, and other states like North Carolina and Texas continue their efforts to lure the plant away.

So . . . lip service to protest and bring on the tax breaks. Or am I being too cynical?

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74 COMMENTS

    • I will have to e-mail Remington to encourage them to participate in the free market as they see fit.

      • You obviously don’t understand what “free market” means. Here’s a hint, it doesn’t mean that I (or anyone else) have to purchase products from companies that work against my interests.

        • Oh, I’m well aware of the free market. Which means I choose to serve LEOs. It also means that Remington and I can tell you to kiss my ass as you have no skin in the businesses game. By the way, when does the ammo boycott start? Doesn’t exactly work for you, does it?

        • What is your business, please? I’d like to exercise my free market right to spend my money with your competitor.

          Works both ways, pal. 😉

      • My only real problem is the safety location making a pistol grip completely asinine. Well, the bayonet lug interferes with some tac light fore ends. But honestly, i was probably never going to spring for one anyway.

        • I agree the safety isn’t pistol grip friendly. Neither is the bolt lock. I had a Knoxx on it but happily sold it for those two reasons. I bought a Hogue buttstock and forend and have honestly not missed the pistol grip one bit.

          If a fella is dead set on a pistol grip and nothing else will do then pass on the 590. If your world doesn’t begin and end with a pistol grip then treat yourself to one of the finest (military issue) combat shotguns ever made.

        • I have a spx version with winged fiber front sights, ghost ring rear,and ported barrel . Don’t have a lot of opportunity to use the bayonet. When I pick it up the fire controls, trigger excluded, just fall into my hand. The slide release becomes second nature in no time. MMMM sweetheart, the witch ain’t gettin you! I can’t imagine either of my Mossys with a pistol grip, but to each their own, I can only speak for me.

      • I’ve owned and used Remington shotguns in the past. But I prefer the Mossberg because of the safety, mostly. There are lefties in my circle and the stock Mossberg is friendlier to them.

      • Im not sold on pistol grips anyways. Ive only shot 870s but Im deffinatley happy with a stock, barebones pump gun. Well, Ill likley add a light, shell holder and sling but otherwise when it comes to my guns I KISS.

        • If you like Hogue grips check out their shotgun stocks. They’re great. Grippy as heck and they have a wonderful buttpad on them.

  8. And here on the same day I finally get the rebate from the 700 I bought on Black Friday…

    • Why the hell would he buy it, and then give it to the Tucson PD? Or maybe the real deal is he wanted one and knew they might be banned soon?

      Also, no crap he only spent a few minutes getting a background check. He probably has NO RECORD as he was a Navy Captain. Of course it was easy to buy. Does he wish he had a full medical exam while he was waiting?

  10. I’m sure you will see no different from any of the other major firearms manufacturers. When none of them come to the boycott table I guess we will see how strong the intestinal fortitude is of the diehard, my way or the highway, boycotters. It’s easy to tell Magpul or Armalite to FOAD but what happens when S&W, Berretta, Springfield, FN, Glock, H&K and all the others do the same? I’m guessing people will fudge their convictions or maybe look to buy guns from a small upstart company like Caracal, who can afford to join the boycott. or not.

      • Last I checked Ruger hasn’t joined the boycott. Neither has Sig or Colt for that matter. I honestly don’t believe any of them will and without them this boycott has no teeth. I’ve said before that the boycott is great in theory and principal but I firmly believe their is no practical, real world application that will work. Too many of these companies rely on State and Federal contracts for huge amounts of their revenue.

        • I believe you are right about the boycott. But at least they are taxed by a free state. A plus, even though a minor one, in my mind.

        • Problem is that the few remaining suppliers are the biggest – Colt, S&W, Sig, Glock, Remington, Springfield, etc., and (iirc) gubbermint contracts are required to be filled first as a condition of the contract. I’m reasonably sure these companies have a larger commitment to garnering fiat than to the principles of the Republic, and that none of them want to become an ‘example’ of DHS/ATF/IRS anal probing and/or gubbermint takeover.

          From Zero Hedge commentor. Lot of truth.

    • Gun makers often consider themselves, as opposed to each other, to be their biggest competitor as they grapple with used gun sales of their own models. Given how long a quality firearm lasts, the resale market is a viable alternative to supporting an out of favor manufacturer today. All the fun and utility of a brand new firearm; but with 1/3 less guilt over moral compromise and ideological impurity.

      • True, there is the used gun market. But if as many people who say they will boycott really boycott and apply your thinking that a used gun purchase doesn’t support the actual firearm company for which they have a moral objection to, then the market is going to get pricey and certain guns will get hard to find. I feel when prices get high enough people start to bend, not everyone, but plenty enough to render it pointless. I think if we were dealing with one or two companies, then it’s a no brainer. It’s been proven effective before with S&W and Ruger. I just feel there are too many of the major companies that have ignored the boycott and have no intentions to join. Without them it’s a house divided, imo.

        • I hear you Brock, I would like to see the revenue go to another free state as well. I’m hoping Magpul follows through with their threats to move if Hikkenboob signs the mag ban. Hitting the states financially is the best option imo. As one of the posters stated already, NY bans these weapons out of supposed public safety concerns and moral obligations but allows companies to continue to manufacture and sell them to other states, the complete hypocrisy and politicking is mind boggling! It’s all about the cash… Same with Colorado writing into the bill that Magpul can continue to manufacture high cap mags to sell out of state. Their morals apparently have a price tag….

      • Logically, we should expect firearms manufacturers to be strong proponents of universal background checks. They can’t come out and say it, because we would no longer buy from them. However, forcing everyone to go through a FFL would do wonders for their business. If I have no choice but to go through a background check, then I will buy new every time. The only real advantage of a private sale (other than obtaining quality firearms no longer manufactured – see Colt’s revolvers) is the ability to keep it away from Uncle Sam’s prying eyes.

  11. Welp, guess that 1911r1 I was eyeing is gonna stay right where its at.

    The shelf. Hello STI Spartan

  12. So New York State wants to eliminate “assault weapon” murders……in New York, but it’s business as usual and fire up the meat grinder so long as the weapons are exported to other states and the murders committed there? When did New York State get into the death merchant business? Lecturing us from on high, with faux moral authority, Cuomo dares lay blame at our law-abiding feet for criminal-committed gun violence, while his state is the source of the gunmen’s murder machines? His vaulting ambition o’erleaps itself and lands face first on asinine hypocrisy.

  13. Will everyone here please learn just what the PISS they’re talking about? The Remington plant in Ilion NY IS Ilion. If that plant leaves, so does most of the jobs for the area. You keyboard warriors would do well to go visit Ilion yourselves, sometime. Maybe then you’ll see it’s not as simple as opposing the SAFE Act.

    Remington is more than their contracts, more than their products… They have to worry about the jobs and people in Ilion.

    • They’re a pretty profitable company. I’m sure they could afford relocation costs for their highly trained employees. Employees pay income taxes. Income taxes should not go to New York. It’s unethical.

    • People who work for a fascist-supporting company don’t have my sympathy. I suppose we should support keeping the ATF above ground because all the poor jackboots will be out of work.

    • The jobs and the people could move to a free state, since clearly they’re getting steamrollered by the downstate pinko tuckfards. Hell, the employees would be better off in Texas, with the lower taxes and all.

    • That is exactly why governments never apply economic sanctions against other states, or even wage war-because the impact of those sanctions/wars would disproportionately fall on people who have no influence to stop the policies/behavior that caused the conflict, right? That is how the world works?

    • I did more than visit Ilion, I lived there. Dingy, overtaxed little burg, but great kielbasa from Herkimer. I left because of my job, but why anyone would turn down an opportunity to leave that town is beyond me. I found no redeeming feature of the town. I would love to see a major gun maker like Remington relocate to a free state and take the good workers with it.

    • Remington (and many other companies) are owned by The Freedom Group, which is owned in large part by Cerberus.

      Cerberus doesn’t give a rat’s posterior about Ilion… or anything else, for that matter. They’re just another opportunistic cabal of Wall Street parasites, feeding where they see an easy meal.

      As soon as the public employees unions (eg, CalPERS) threatened to yank their money out of accounts managed by Cerberus, Cerberus put TFG on the block for sale, in toto.

      No one should delude themselves that Remington’s management or owners give one hair on a rat’s posterior about such etherial concepts as ‘liberty’ or ‘freedom’ or even the jobs or community in Ilion. The ultimate bosses calling the shots, Feinberg and Richter, care about making money for their partners, and that’s it. There is nothing more in life to them. They’d sell their own mothers into service in a Turkish brothel if they thought they could get a buck for doing so.

      If there were more money to be had by moving out of NY State, they would in a hot second. Right now, they’re doing what Wall Street firms run by political insiders and fluffers have done (and will always do): Cut a private deal for themselves.

  15. Glad I bought my R1 used. Guess I can live with that sick feeling of seeing”made in NY” on the slide when I clean it.

  16. New York is willing
    To waste taxpayers money
    To prop up their sham

    BTW, did you see that Mark Kelly just bought himself a new 1911 and an AR-15? It’s good to be a member of The Ruling Class…

  18. Here’s a positive spin on this news.. maybe Remington has been told something that we haven’t been. Some sort of “hey, the SAFE act is going to fail when it goes before the court.”

    Then they stay neutral in the boycott to keep their employees grounded and their investments stable.

    Just a thought. However if after the courtroom dust settles in NY and Remington stays fat and happy with their tax payer contracts – well then they’ll have to learn the lessons we have taught other manufactures decades ago. Don’t f*ck with the people of the gun.

    • I’ve been thinking about this sort of thing a lot when out and about for errands. Should I really try to boycott fruit and stuff at the grocery store that’s grown in NY and California? I’m leaning towards no because the areas of the state benefitting from that revenue would be far more conservative than in the more urban areas and are probably more likely to be on the right side of things.

      I still, almost by reflex now, look for other options when I see a made in New York, or grown in California stamp on things, but I have bought some fruit and stuff.

  19. All of you make me sick. Most of the small towns and rural areas IN NY are with us. They were blind sided by the corrupt politicians. So what do you do? You throw your fellow pro gunners under the bus.

    Remington is screwed no matter what they do. Move? Yeah, millions in moving costs, lost production. Then the impact on the work force. Average workers wife is a school teacher, kids in school, Granpa in a nursing home. What, he has to leave his home, lose all his friends, family? Plus end up taking a financial bath. Why?

    Because his company did not join some worthless boycott that does not and will not make a difference to the anti gunners. Or for that matter, further our cause in maintaining our 2A rights.

    Your little snit is EXACTLY what Bloomberg and Feinstein want to see. Congrats guys, your lack of brains and loyalty is doing their job for them.

    • Sorry, but those of us who had the foresight to get the f–k out of NY to make for sunnier climes don’t have a whole lot of sympathy for those who pay taxes to the people that assault our rights. And NY taxes pay to assault NATIONAL gun rights. Thanks to downstate metro-area pinko s–tbirds the takers have gotten 50%+1 of the vote so therefore in a democracy you’re fucked. I wish you well if you stay and fight, but I think all that’s gonna do is tire you out and possibly impoverish you, while in the meantime your tax dollars continue to provide ammunition to the forces of evil arrayed against our constitutional rights.

      I have family in NY still, though they’re mostly retired and paying no income tax on their pensions so they’re a net drain on NY’s finances, which in my opinion is starving the Albany beast ever so slightly. I just hope they move out of state so they don’t contribute property or sales tax, I have room in my house in Texas just in case.

    • I don’t see anyone recommending we burn down the factory buildings and use C4 on the machinery. You make some good points but your reaction seems a little disproportionate.

  20. One more thought to add to my prior post. Remington does not get to make the decisions.

    They are owned by Freedom group. So guess what? They are stuck. So all of your talk of “boycotting” Remington, ends up, in the final analysis, hurting everyday honest hardworking, pro gun families .

    Good Work!!! I am so proud of all the holier than thou pri$ks on this site. Sleep well.

  22. Remington very recently won an $80 million federal contract for a new sniper rifle. I can’t help but wonder if the contract win was consideration for Remington remaining in Ilion (perhaps influenced by the Cuomo and Obama / Clinton political ties). Closing the factory would be devastating to upstate NY and a political problem for Cuomo’s presidential aspirations.

    I think a good part of the SAFE Act will eventually be declared unconstitutional. I would hate to see workers lose their jobs over a flawed law that will eventually be reversed.

    • There is no way that Myer Lansky and Lucky Luciano Bloomberg and Cuomo had any influence over Al CaponeObama.

  23. Remington sorta forgot what happened when S&W shafted the gunowners years ago.
    Remington wants to downsize?

  24. When are you guys going to start boycotting the ammo manufacturers that sell to LEOs? Oh, that won’t work very well, because it’s pretty much all of em. Talk about selective boycotters.

    • Selective buying. No boycott can cover it all. Companies are so diverse, it would be next to impossible. That is a fact, (or, a theory, I believe in). So damn many lawyers, have to qualify everything.

      • Memphis, I bet the brass, bullets, primers and powder your reloading company uses all come from companies that sell to LEOs. This gets complicated quick, doesn’t it?

  26. I have a RIA, and it’s pretty nice (after replacing the barrel and bushing and trigger – grin).

  27. It’s their business. They can stay if they want too. I can only try and avoid buying anything from them, and have, so far. We can not, or, should not, deny anyone, or business, freedom to choose. Then we would be guilty of selective freedom just as much as a corrupt, criminal government, local, state, or federal. And, rest assured, there is no shortage of corrupt, criminal minds using legal fronts, to fund disarmament.

  28. Remington should remain in the Village of Ilion, NY. The last thing the gun industry needs is for the Freedom Group to move Remington to some nondescript Butler Building in South Carolina.

    As America’s oldest firearms manufacturer, Remington began in Ilion in 1816. Remington is Ilion and Ilion is Remington. It has been in its current physical plant of over 1,000,000 square feet since 1915. It produced arms for WWI and WWII. It is staffed by over 1,200 loyal, multi-generational skilled employees. Remington has accepted gov’t incentives in the past to invest and remain in Ilion.

    While the Freedom Group’s investment in Ilion is driven by maximizing profits and company value, the above is no less true.

    Your desire that Remington cut-and-run due to the SAFE act is wrong. It’s cowardly and it’s very short-sighted. Both heritage and courage mean a lot as does the future. I hope that Remington remains in Ilion and becomes part of a driving force to ultimately scuttle the SAFE Act.

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