As you might have already heard, several states’ legislatures have passed – or are in the process of passing – laws that (re)assert states rights for guns that are manufactured, sold, and used within their respective states. Conventional wisdom is that these laws are going through in order to provide test cases that will come before the Supreme Court in order to decide a fundamental question: does the Federal Government have the right to pass and enforce laws, flying in the face of the 10th Amendment.
I fervently hope that these cases get to the Supremes, and that the States Rights side prevails. We could be looking at the undoing of roughly 80 years worth of progressive laws that have upset the delicate balance between the Federal government and the “Several States.”
All that notwithstanding, the states that are passing/have passed these laws made me stop and ponder for a different reason. For instance, the first state to pass such a law was…Montana. Not to take away anything from Big Sky country, but Montana isn’t exactly (forgive me) number one with a bullet on my list of states where gun manufacturers ply their trade. Matter of fact, I was under the impression that most gun manufacturers were located in Illinois. Turns out, I was wrong.
Here’s a look at where guns are REALLY manufactured across these United States:
Turns out, Connecticut far and away wins the “most manufacturers in a state” award, with eight. Texas (yea!), Massachussets, New York, and Illinois come in second with four. Colorado and Virginia have three, Maryland, Montana and Ohio each have two, with twelve other states with one each.
Montana, Texas and Utah are obviously protecting their existing manufacturers, but I wouldthink that all of these states would absolutely love to welcome manufacturers currently residing in gun-unfriendly states such as Illinois, California and New York. You’d think in times such as these, no Governor in his or her right mind would do anything to drive manufacturers (not to mention manufacturing jobs) out of their respective states. But you’d be wrong. As for me, I’d love to see a bunch more manufacturers relocate to Texas. We have a gun-friendly culture here, no state income tax, wide open spaces, easy access to transportation, and a vast majority of cities that would welcome them with open arms.
So…blue states? Keep on doin’ what you’re doin.’ The folks in Texas and the other flyover states will be more than happy to take Kimber, Springfield Armory, Kahr, and all the rest – Y’all come on down. We’ll be rollin’ out the welcome mat for you.
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