I cannot fathom why, beyond history or tradition, the major gun manufacturers remain in places like CT and MA when basic gun rights are clearly not valued in the community.
I’ve often thought the same thing, but many of the older ones have been there since a time before demographic changes brought folks into New England who are less enabored by the industry and/or tradition. Incidentally, Colt has decided to open a new factory in Florida, not anywhere near New England.
Well, I can't speak for Massachusetts,but here in Connecticut, gun rights are still valued. The CCW laws are "will issue", unlike many other ostensibly conservative states, and the gun-owning community is much larger than you might think. Also, there is skilled labor pool in CT that Ruger and Colt have drawn upon (not that this couldn't be duplicated elsewhere).
This said, we certainly do have more than our share of whiney, bossy, frightened nannies who extend their fears onto everyone else - if they don't like something, then nobody should. We do our best to overcome, but its a tough battle. Lots of them, few of us.