Gunmaker PTR Industries is moving from Connecticut to South Carolina, as tightening restrictions drives the firearms industry to gun-friendly states.
Self-study activity:
Watch this New York Times video and say whether the statements below are true or false.
The activity is suitable for intermediate 2 students.
1 PTR has 15 employees.
2 Connecticut state legislator passed senate bill 1116 in April.
3 The Connecticut bill gives more flexibility to gun manufacturers.
4 Forty-three states have made PTR a relocation offer.
5 Most PTR workers will move to South Carolina.
6 Some other gun-making companies are moving to South Carolina.
7 TPR has orders for $60m.
From some of the southern-western states we heard. ‘Hey, we love industry and we love guns. Get on down here.’
The debate over guns is spilling into business, intensifying competition for jobs between red and blue states. Bristol Connecticut-based PTR industries manufactures assault rifles. It is also thirty miles from New Town. Why I truly respect the constitutional guarantees that the second amendment provides. We, as legislators, must determine and regulate the appropriate level of self-defense that an individual is guaranteed.
PTR’s fifty employees watch closely as the Connecticut state legislator passed senate bill 1160 in April. Both, critics and supporters, called it the strictest gun control bill in the country. It restricts high-capacity magazine and assault rifles while mandating background checks for gun buyers.
What we found reading through the actual text of the law was that there really were not sufficient exemptions for the industry.
That’s where PTR saw the opportunity to develop the rifle gun buyers had been searching for.
When the company started looking at potential relocation sites, forty-three states came calling. Company officials said the one the employees chose was a staunch supporter of the second amendment.
Miles of lands inspect buildings are available in nearly every county, all ready and waiting to be developed. Companies of all sizes from all around the world have found the support they need, here, in South Carolina.
Nearly two thirds of the company’s workers have agreed to move to South Carolina, while the rest must find new jobs. Most of the workers are excited about the move.
Honestly, I can’t wait to move though awesome opportunity, if I was trying to stay here, there is literally nothing that I can do to make the same amount of money.
Technically is home to me, all my family is here, so… but at the same time I love what I do so it’d be kind of dumb not to take up that opportunity here, you know.
If a law is going to stop us from prospering at the point where I’m at in my life, you know, the water a little bluer down south so I’ll take that and see how it goes.
It isn’t clear how many companies are moving to gun-friendly states, but PTR is being joined by major gun-makers like Beretta and smaller gun-makers like Kahr Arms.
We were forced into a situation where we had to decide based on two such a criteria, you know, which basically were, you know, shut down this company or make an entirely different product line, or move and, you know, we just had to make a decision, and the decision with 60 million dollars in sales orders on the backlog it’s pretty easy. Let’s move.
Key:
1F 2F 3F 4T 5T 6F 7T
