Rick Perry Invites Gun Manufacturers to Set Up Shop in Texas
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Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(AUSTIN, Texas) — Texas Governor Rick Perry is sending a recruitment message to gun and ammunition manufacturers — set up shop in Texas.
Perry sent letters to 26 gun and ammunition manufacturers earlier this month inviting them to consider a move to Texas if the states they currently operate in impose “restrictive laws” on their industry, according to a copy of the letter and a list of the manufacturers provided to ABC News by the governor’s office.
“A number of states in the United States are seriously considering restrictive laws impacting firearms manufacturers. While I support the efforts of law enforcement to identify, apprehend, prosecute and punish criminals who use firearms in the commission of their crimes, I do not believe that imposing additional requirements or restrictions on businesses is the correct approach,” Perry wrote in the letter, which was dated Feb. 7.
“As you consider your options for responding to unwarranted government intrusion into your business, you may choose to consider relocating your manufacturing operations to a state that is more business-friendly. There is no other state that fits the definition of business-friendly like Texas,” Perry wrote, pointing out financial incentives the state offers companies.
Perry sent the letter to such firearms manufacturers as Bushmaster Firearms International LLC, Glock, Inc., Sig Sauer Inc. and Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation.
Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives Philip Gunn made a similar overture Thursday, inviting 14 gun manufacturers to his state. He said, “Gun manufacturers are under attack in anti-Second Amendment states.”
One manufacturer which both Perry and Gunn reached out to is Magpul Industries Corp., based in Erie, Colo. Magpul, which the Denver Post reported was “Colorado’s largest and most profitable manufacturer of high-capacity ammunition magazines,” has said it might move its shop to another state if Colorado enacts four new gun bills which passed the Colorado House of Representatives earlier this week. Vice President Joe Biden phoned Colorado lawmakers last week, encouraging them to vote for the four bills, a White House aide confirmed.
Magpul placed a full-page ad in the Denver Post on Sunday. “A magazine ban will do more than hurt public safety in a free Colorado. It will force a Colorado company to leave the state,” the ad read.
ABC News reached out to Magpul for comment on the overtures made by other states, but a spokesman did not immediately respond. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the company said it’s still considering its options as the Colorado gun control bill heads to the state Senate for a vote.
“It appears that someone has posted or sent out some sort of notice that we are moving to a specific location. We can assure you that no decision has been made about location, and that we are still fighting this battle,” Magpul wrote on Facebook. “We are, however, assembling our requirements and looking at various areas that would be suitable for our new home, should it come to that. We appreciate all the offers, and we will begin talking to various entities about those shortly.”
Perry has made no secret of his desire to lure businesses to Texas. Earlier this month, he conducted a recruiting tour in California, sparring with California Gov. Jerry Brown and Lieutenant Gov. Gavin Newsom. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott ran advertisements in New York last month inviting New Yorkers to move to Texas after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo started a new gun-control push.
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