HiViz Shooting Systems has announced that it will move to Wyoming as the company fulfills its promise to leave Colorado due to recent changes in Colorado state gun-control legislation. Also, magazine maker Magpul has begun making its products outside Colorado in an as-yet-to-be-named state, and some companies associated with Magpul have also said they plan to leave the state immediately.
HiViz Shooting Systems manufactures light-gathering sights, recoil pads and accessories for the shooting industry. HiViz President and CEO Phillip Howe said that the company will move to Laramie, Wyoming.
Howe said, “I make this announcement with mixed emotions. Colorado is a beautiful state with great people, but we cannot in clear conscience support with our taxes a state that has proven through recent legislation a willingness to infringe upon the constitutional rights of our customer base.
Howe said that prior to the changes in law in Colorado, he made several attempts to persuade state officials via emails and telephone calls to proceed slowly with gun control legislation that would impact individual shooters and the shooting industry as a whole.
Also, Magpul’s new home already seems to be in operation. The company wrote on its Facebook page recently that gun sights and standard 30-round magazines (called PMAGs) are now being manufactured outside Colorado for the first time. However, the company hasn’t announced the new location yet.
ATK to Buy Savage Arms
ATK is buying Caliber Company, the parent company of Savage Sports Corporation for $315 million in cash, according to an ATK release.
Operating under the brand names of Savage Arms, Stevens, and Savage Range Systems, the company designs, manufactures and markets centerfire and rimfire rifles, shotguns and shooting range systems used for hunting as well as competitive and recreational target shooting. The company was organized in 1894 by Arthur Savage. The company is currently located in Westfield, Mass. and Lakefield, Ontario, and employs about 600 employees.
The acquisition would expand ATK’s portfolio offering by adding long guns to its position in commercial and security ammunition, shooting sports and security-related accessories.
ATK will integrate Savage within its Sporting Group business. ATK’s ammunition brands include Federal Premium, CCI, Fusion, Speer, Estate Cartridge and Blazer. ATK’s accessories brands include BLACKHAWK!, Alliant Power, RCBS, Champion targets and shooting equipment, Gunslick Pro and Outers gun-care products, and Weaver optics and mounting systems.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. ATK anticipates closing the transaction in the first quarter of its Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14), which ends June 30, 2013.
ATK is an aerospace, defense, and commercial products company with approximately 15,000 employees and operations in 21 states, Puerto Rico, and internationally. ATK is headquartered in Arlington, Va.
Ruger Looks To Open Third Gun Plant
Sturm Ruger & Co. is looking to open a third manufacturing facility, CEO Michael Fifer said at the company’s annual meeting in Prescott, Ariz. on April 30. Reason: “We are running out of space,” Fifer said.
The arms manufacturer, based in Southport, Conn., has major facilities in Newport, N.H., and Prescott. Fifer said that the company hired a search firm from Austin, Texas, and had talked about opening a third facility with Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
According to Fifer, Ruger will use the new facility to build new lines of firearms, not to expand production of current firearms. Fifer stated he expects the new facility would build about ten completely new firearm lines.
The company is looking for a 250,000-square-foot existing building that would employ from 500 or more workers over the next five or six years. Fifer’s specs for the new facility: a relatively new building, not in a big industrial park, an available manufacturing workforce that could pass criminal background checks and drug tests.
In the last half-decade, Ruger has quadrupled its rate of production in the same fixed space, increasing its total workforce to 2,100. Fifer said he had no plans to move Ruger’s headquarters from Connecticut.
Compiled and edited by Gun Tests staff. GT
