Remington planning to invest $100M in Georgia gun factory, research facility

Remington Arms on Monday announced plans to relocate its headquarters and invest $100 million in a new factory and research program in Georgia. 

The gunmaker said it would move its HQ from upstate New York to LaGrange, Ga., about 70 miles outside of Atlanta. There, the company will launch a research operation and open a new factory, hiring more than 850 people over five years, according to a statement from Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R).

“Georgia’s firearms industry is responsible for thousands of jobs and millions of dollars of investment in our communities,” Kemp said, adding that he is “proud owner of some of Remington’s first-class product.”

The Associated Press noted that Kemp memorably pointed a shotgun at another person in a campaign advertisement during the 2018 gubernatorial race. 

Multiple gun companies have relocated from the northeast to more gun-friendly areas like the South and the West, the AP reported.  

“We are very excited to come to Georgia, a state that not only welcomes business but enthusiastically supports and welcomes companies in the firearms industry,” Remington CEO Ken D’Arcy said in Kemp’s statement. 

Remington, the country’s oldest firearms manufacturer, stopped making Bushmaster AR-15 rifles after that weapon was used in the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, during which 20 first-graders and six teachers were killed, the wire service added.