Birthplace of the Second Amendment 1765: Magpul taking 200 jobs out of Colo. over gun laws

Friday, January 3, 2014

Magpul taking 200 jobs out of Colo. over gun laws

By Associated Press - 12/3/2014

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - One of the country's largest producers of ammunition magazines for guns is leaving Colorado and moving operations to Wyoming and Texas because of new state laws that include restrictions on how many cartridges a magazine can hold.

Erie, Colo.-based Magpul Industries Corp. announced Thursday that it was moving its production, distribution and shipping operations to Cheyenne and its headquarters to Texas, making good on a vow it made to leave Colorado during last year's gun control debate.

"Moving operations to locations that support our culture of individual liberties and personal responsibility is important," Magpul CEO Richard Fitzpatrick said in a statement. "Moving to a true multi-state operation will also allow Magpul to utilize the strengths of both Texas and Wyoming as we continue to expand."

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead said in a statement that Wyoming offers Magpul "a firm commitment to uphold the Second Amendment."
The Democrat-led Colorado Legislature and Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper enacted a new law last year prohibiting the sale of gun magazines that hold more than 15 rounds. It was part of a package of legislation in response to mass shootings at a suburban Denver movie theater and a Connecticut elementary school.

The laws drew praise from gun control activists but sparked furor from gun rights advocates. The laws prompted the successful recall of two Democratic state senators and the resignation of a third.

Randy Bruns, CEO of Cheyenne's economic development organization, said it is working with Magpul on a financial package that could include up to $13 million in state grants and loans to help the company move to Cheyenne.

"It's very significant for Cheyenne and for Wyoming," Bruns said. "They bring a manufacturing capability that's not otherwise present here in Wyoming."

He hopes Magpul's move will cause other manufacturers to consider relocating or opening facilities in Wyoming.

Magpul spokesman Duane Liptak said the company plans to move the majority of its workers from Colorado over the next 12 to 16 months. The move involves about 200 jobs, Liptak said.

The company is leasing a 58,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution facility in Cheyenne and will build a permanent 100,000-square-foot facility.

Magpul said its corporate headquarters will likely be in north-central Texas but an exact location hasn't been determined. Company officials are working with Texas Gov. Rick Perry and state economic development officials on the move.

Founded in 1999, Magpul products also include grips, slings, stocks and sights for guns, according to its website.

It is the second Colorado company involved in making gun accessories to relocate operations to Wyoming since Colorado's new gun laws were enacted.

HiViz Shooting Systems, a company based in Fort Collins, Colo., that makes gun sights and other accessories, announced earlier that it was moving its core operations to Laramie, about 50 miles west of Cheyenne.

Associated Press writer Ivan Moreno in Denver contributed to this report.

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It All Started Here . . .

Frontier Mercersburg in 1765 was the "birthplace" of the right we now refer to as "the Second Amendment", or, "the right to bear arms". It was here that individuals for the first time, some would say divinely, embraced the link between "Life and Liberty". . . and struck the first blow for Freedom.

Historically the right to bear arms goes back even before our founding as a nation to the Glorious Revolution of 1689 when William III agreed to the English Bill of Rights. If one can look at revolution like a volcanic eruption in nature, you understand that often from the destruction come the seeds of new human values and beliefs. In this case the independence of the human spirit, the right to know God for oneself, and to trust your conscience was hard won in this revolution of the human soul.

One crucible begets the necessity for another and on the frontier in America the right to defend ones religious beliefs was becoming the right to participate in the decisions of government that impact my "self". Freedom of the soul was becoming freedom of the heart and mind. Smith's Rebellion began as an act they justified under the rubric of defending oneself because government had failed in its obligation to protect Life, Liberty and Property. This was the first assertion of this principle aimed directly at British Military Authority as well as the incompetent government of John Penn - anywhere in the colonies.

In the end, Smith's Rebellion was the first armed resistance against British Military Rule leading up to the American Revolution. It was the first American triumph over the best military force in the world. It was the first time upon defending oneself that Americans had proclaimed we can rule ourselves.

It would be ten years before the battles at Lexington and Concord.

...Let Them Take Arms

The "Right to Bear Arms" . . .or 2nd Amendment is one of the most discussed and contentious of all the amendments of the Bill of Rights. It is, in fact, the only amendment that contains not only the seeds but the actual instruments of the revolution itself. Further, it gives real affirmation to Thomas Jefferson's quote . . .
"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty. ... And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

It is for this reason, if no other, that the Government and its functionaries vociferously assail and obfuscate the text of this simple assertion. More, it is for this reason, and in the face of the perennial onslaught that its defense and affirmation is essential to the survival of the republic.

Frontier Mercersburg & The Justice William Smith House

The frontier town of Mercersburg, PA. in the 1760's, although typical of many settlements along the Appalachian Mountains played a pivotal role in the creation of what was to become the "Bill of Rights".

Frontiersmen like James Smith and the Black Boys, many of whom were inhabitants of the Mercersburg environs, were early participants in a series of conflicts with the British government that established principles the eventually lead to the inclusion of the "right to bear arms" in the Bill of Rights.

Much of the focus, centers on the domicile (and likely place of business) of Justice William Smith.

Birthplace of the Second Amendment 1765

Pages

Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution - Bill of Rights

Preservation and Proposition

Friday, January 3, 2014

Magpul taking 200 jobs out of Colo. over gun laws

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