When it comes to gun control laws, we usually point to the overwhelming evidence that they do little if anything to actually stop the violence they are aimed at solving. They are a nuisance at best and a real obstacle to American freedom at their worst.
But sometimes, they are an economic problem as well. Colorado is finding that out right now.
This week, ammunition manufacturer Magpul Industries announced they were making a major deal to supply the U.S. Marine Corps with their products. The deal will bring an untold number of new jobs to the manufacturer’s homebase – Cheyenne, Wyoming.
That’s good news for the people of Cheyenne, but it is a bitter pill to swallow for the citizens of Colorado. That’s where Magpul Industries was located until last year when they fled the state in an attempt to escape Colorado’s new anti-ammunition laws.
Magpul employed some 100 people when they were headquartered in Colorado, but they started looking for greener pastures when the Democrat-controlled legislature passed an anti-ammunition law in the wake of the Aurora movie theater shooting. The law made it illegal to sell any magazines that were capable of holding more than 15 rounds, leading to a major political shakeup in Colorado and ultimately inspiring Magpul to yank its facilities out of the state.
The company chose Texas for its headquarters and Cheyenne for its production facilities. The Wyoming State Loan and Investment Board handed the company $8.3 million to make the move, but reports show that Laramie County expects to gain more than $14 million in total benefits from having Magpul operating in their hometown. That loss alone would be a bitter pill for Colorado workers to swallow; the Department of Defense contract just makes it all the worse.
On Tuesday, Colorado Senate President Kevin Grantham expressed his irritation with the news.
“My take is there is no big surprise here,” said Grantham. “You tell a company they can’t sell a product in your state, when it’s a good product and a popular product. They move across the state line, they get a lot of support and they get a big contract. We lost not only the jobs they had when they were here, we lost the jobs they’ve grown into since and we’re losing all the jobs they’re going to grow into in future years with this contract.
He said the Marine contract would likely be followed with major contracts from the other branches of the military.
“That’s a massive, massive contract just a short distance down the road. We lost that,” he said. “What good did this gun law do? Not a blasted bit.”
It made people “feel” like they were safer. That’s all. Unfortunately, nothing makes a community safer than a thriving economy. Magpul’s exodus didn’t crash Colorado’s job market by any means…but no state is so well off that they can afford to watch employers abandon them due to idiotic legislation.
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