Magpul Industries employee Zonia Talacios cleans a plastic gun stock product on Thursday morning as U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner and state Sen. Vicki Marble tour the Erie company. ( LEWIS GEYER )
Posted on 02/22/2013 11:49:49 AM PST by Red Steel
U.S. representative says Gov. Hickenlooper should do the same
ERIE -- Gov. John Hickenlooper should visit Magpul Industries Corp. and see for himself the impact that passage of gun-control measures would have on the families of about 200 people working for a manufacturer here, U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner said Thursday.
Gardner, R-Yuma, and state Sen. Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins, toured the company's Erie plant Thursday morning, watching as Magpul employees prepared and assembled high-capacity magazines, firearms accessories and other products ranging from military dog leashes to smartphone cases.
Magpul has threatened to leave Colorado if the Legislature passes, and Hickenlooper signs, gun bills that limit the capacity of ammunition magazines that can be sold and possessed
An amendment to a recently passed House bill would allow high-capacity magazine manufacturers to make them in Colorado and sell them elsewhere.
But Magpul officials told Gardner, Marble and state Rep. Lori Saine -- a Dacono Republican who joined the others after the plant tour -- that the amendment wouldn't be enough to prompt the company to stay if the bill becomes law.
"We want to continue to be a Colorado company," said Duane Liptak Jr., Magpul's director of product management and marketing.
Magpul's chief operating officer, Doug Smith, said, however, that "our company was founded based on a set of values that resonate with our customer base." If Magpul continued to manufacture its ammunition magazines in a state whose own residents couldn't own them, "our customer base would feel betrayed."
Introduction of the magazine-capacity bill also prompted the company to put on hold its expansion plans, which include a new 200,000-square-foot facility that was to be built on a site near Interstate Highway 25 on Baseline Road, Magpul officials said.
A Magpul pullout could jeopardize the livelihoods of many of the 200 Coloradans who work directly for the company, as well as about
The congressman also raised a question about whether the proposed Colorado law might violate the Interstate Commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution and related federal laws -- something Magpul officials indicated their lawyers are looking into.
"The bottom line," Gardner said, is that the magazine-capacity-limits bill and other gun-control measures that have received House approval won't prevent gun violence. He said they'd wind up "making criminals out of innocent people."
The Legislature and Congress should instead work in areas where "there is common ground," Gardner said, such as efforts to provide people with mental illnesses the treatment they need and intervening, when necessary, to try to keep firearms out of the hands of people whose mental health conditions could lead to violence.
Marble told Magpul officials that she'd try to arrange a similar company tour for fellow state Senate Republicans.
John Fryar can be reached at 303-684-5211 or jfryar@times-call.com.
B-b-b-but it’s for the chi-i-i-i-illllldre-e-e-e-ennnnnn!
They’ll be losing their jobs for the chi-i-i-i-i-illlllldre-e-e-e-e-nnnnnnn!
So, it’s worth the suffering.
Like Global Warming carbon credits.
Like 0bamaoCare.
Like 0bamao himself.
Oh my!
I guess liberal Democrats will now have to “think” before they use their hearts to pass what they thought were meaningless laws. (/sarcasm)
We need 'em running as hard as they can!
CO Legislature: "We simply must ban high-capacity gun clips to protect the children. The time has come to take immediate action."
MagPul: "You do that and we'll leave Colorado and dump hundreds of workers onto the unemployed list, take our military contracts, and leave to a more business-friendly state.
CO Legislature: "NnoooOOoo... Don't be hasty, MagPul! You can still create those children-killing gun clips for the rest of the world, you just can't sell them here in Colorado! We like your tax revenue, military contracts, and employment numbers!"
MagPul: "You're morally comfortable with being hypocrites, but we're not. Adios, idiots."
A new kind of American Hero.
The drama of waiting for the Co legislators is just a farce. The economic reasons for leaving are absolute. That goes for at least 500 businesses across the country right now. What about Strum Ruger? Smith Wesson? Marlin? Ammo makers? I mean, what are they waiting for? I'm sure Perry would even give a tax abatement on the land for a kicker.
Lots of Southern Right to Work suitors are preparing their petitions...
That's it in a nutshell.
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