Colorado Democrats, making the nonsensical claim that the state’s economy is their number one priority going into the 2014 legislative session, will start the year $80 million in the hole. That is the estimated annual hit to the Colorado economy caused by Friday’s announced departure of Magpul, a firearms accessory manufacturing company whose products were in the cross hairs of the Democrats’ signature gun control legislation of 2013.
Splitting operations between Texas and Wyoming, two states with neither an income tax nor a Democrat-driven hostile regulatory climate, Magpul is taking 200 jobs with them in the move. Also impacted will be approximately 400 Colorado workers involved in the supply chain surrounding Magpul Industries’ manufacturing and distribution activities in Erie, CO.
With the move, Magpul fulfills its promise to leave the state if the Democrats’ unpopular gun control legislation was passed. Without receiving a single Republican vote, the Democrats used their legislative majorities last year to ram through several gun control bills which were promptly signed by Governor Hickenlooper.
It did not seem to matter that a significant employer in the state was going to leave if these bills were passed, taking middle class manufacturing jobs with them. It didn’t even matter that there were elements buried in these bills that rendered them almost unenforceable. Unfortunately for a few members of the Democrat Senate Caucus, this ill-conceived infringement on Coloradans’ Second Amendment rights did matter to their constituents.
While it is easy for the Democrats to issue a press release or tweet about their passion for growing Colorado’s economy, time and time again they have actively sought out an anti-growth agenda that leaves our private sector workers uncertain, our best industries threatened, and our access to capital diminished.
James McKee Again, they had good motivation to leave unrelated to gun laws.
LOL yeah…that's how it works. They could have stayed here and been harangued by Joyce and her liberal politicians until they had to declare bankruptcy. Or, maybe Joyce would have helped Magpul employees start a union and just cause the whole company to wither from the inside out.
Joyce Espinosa see honey, here in what you spew about "massacres" in upper class WHITE SCHOOLS would never happen in an inner city school BECAUSE those kids have elements that are ARMED!!, you say NOTHING about school shootings in neighborhoods in COLORADO's inner cities daily, those are expendable murders right? age groups murdered BY ILLEGAL GUNS same as Sandy Hook. But people like you IGNORE those murders in inner city neighborhoods.
I find it funny that you blame THE PRODUCT AND COMPANY when its the INDIVIDUAL, DO YOU KNOW THE MILLIONS Magpul give to youth target shooting clubs? Gun safety clubs, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE groups, and YES many others?.
see one of the businesses I own I deal DIRECTLY with Magpul Industries, and thier PTS military/law enforcement brand. Us retailers have known for 5 years they were EXPANDING and Colorado tried to play hardball as the shooting happened. Little do you know the tax incentives this state gave them to build and bring in jobs in the first place, and when the gun fearmongoring started THATS when the state tried to BACK OFF thier future obligations in helping MAGPUL expand. Btw in ANY I dustry that is raking in millions for a city, county and state, OTHER STATES ALWAYS make counter offers, they want them tax dollars ITS NOTHING NEW AND MOST COMPANIES IGNORE THE OFFERS!!.
so MAGPUL pulled out, I as well as hundreds of retailers and hundreds of thousands of customers WORLDWIDE including law enforcement, military here and abroad commend them sticking to thier values and moving. Odd you say that police were "held hostage", lol THEY ARE LAW ENFORCEMENT that is illegal!!!. STOP THE FEARMONGORING..
Now BEING A BUSINESSMAN, and being in the Industry, see with or without gun laws your damn right I would still make the same statement about lost jobs, lost taxes, lost growth, lost smaller businesses effected. THATS WHAT BUSINESS OWNERS DO. THEY FIGHT, THEY ARE ON THE FRONT LINES, THEY KNOW WHAT TAXES ARE EFFECTED, thats our job!!.
And NO need to say sorry about my robberies, because in each of them WITH MY TRAINING for my conceal carry. I shot to kill all 3 without remourse (not to say if I killed them or not). SEE all 3 robberies never make the news in the last 15 years because it was a minority on minority crime. AND THE GOOD GUY WAS ARMED!!.
now if I was white? Or the robber was WHITE???. Hell YOUR TYPE would raise the minority flag of "RACIST, HE A WHITE GUN TOTING, RACIST HE SHOT A LATINO!!".. but since its minority on minority crimes YOU SIT on your hands waiting for the next incident where you can lean on the CRUTCH of race.
While latinos like me have burned our race card and DONT use the color of our skin as an excuse or reason to blame society.
Jay Sanchez did we say anything about your guns? I merely posed the possibility that Magpul was being lured by TX and WY long before the gun bills were introduced. I also pointed out that they asked CO for tax payer money and that CO did not match any incentive to keep them here and help them build their facility in Broomfield. In all the blogs celebrating Magpuls "principled" stand to move, they never mentioned the facts that they were offered many incentives from these same states BEFORE the existence of gun bills, before the Sandy Hook massacre and before the Aurora theatre. Then during the debates, Magpul pulled offensive publicity stunts, like comparing itself to the Berlin Airlift, had pledges for law officers to sign before they bought their products (extortion), and engineered "give aways" and ginned up fear for the gun bills that created panic purchasing of their products. They also contributed to the virulent hate against the bills and the legislators and their constituents who supported the gun laws. In March, KDVR Channel 31 ran a news story about Magpul's offers from WY and TX and their approach to CO, and it got lost in the din of rage caused over the gun bills. They never attempted to set the record straight. Do you think they took advantage of it for their own purposes? Did Magpul ever tell any of you that there were offers from other states predating the gun bills? Did they make that clear? No. They took advantage of the situation and did not disclose the extent of the offers, or the timing, nor did they try to avoid you getting the impression that they were making a great ideological and financial sacrifice to move, when in fact, they most likely knew at that time that they weren't making much, if any, sacrifice at all. They let you all believe that, BUT FOR the gun laws, they would be happy to stay, when in fact they had millions of dollars of reasons to leave and could have left anyway, without the gun laws. Maybe they would have stayed, maybe not. Last year's gun laws were just gravy for them, and you all ate it up. Dishonest company. Good riddance. As for your repetition of the myth about lost jobs, lost business taxes, lost property taxes, etc., etc. being the fault of the gun bills and the legislature, let me ask you this: If there were no gun laws and Magpul simply made the decision to move and take the tax incentive in WY, purely for business reasons and no other, would you be angry at them for lost jobs and revenue? I'm betting you wouldn't care about those jobs then. Not enough to stop buying Magpul products out of principle. I believe that Colorado Peak Politics knew this information before they posted this article, but didn't tell you, either. Sorry you have been robbed in your businesses, but that is irrelevant to the fact that Magpul was not 100% honest with you all along, which is the subject of my debate.
LOL good riddance?? To lost jobs, lost business taxes?, lost property taxes?, to THE SMALL BUSINESS this loss trickles down to. Lost income to grocery, clothes stores, to printers, ad companies, cardboard and plastics companies, fastener companies, security companies, janitorial companies, landscaping/snow removal companies and more and more businesses. Alot of lost money.
Kim and Joyce MAYBE, JUST MAYBE spew your gun hating rhetoric in GANG INFESTED NEIGHBORHOODS in Denver.
Leave us conceal carry holders and gun eenthusiasts alone. Ive been robbed in my businesses 3 times, and my guns have saved my life..
Kim Sayers I agree. As my mother used to say, good riddance to bad rubbage.
I say whatever the reason, good riddance.
They received $16 million dollars in incentives from WY and TX and they were contacted by these states long before the gun bills were introduced. They also contacted the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade in the summer of 2012 to see if there were CO funds available to help them expand. CO did not have comparable funds available. How do we know they would have stayed even if the gun bills were never passed? They had good financial reasons to leave, now or in the undetermined future, with or without the gun bills. Too much emphasis is placed on what was their business decision to move. They and they alone are responsible for their decision. I think it is being exploited for political reasons. It's extremely possible they would have eventually moved anyway. All we have is their word they were going to stay, but the temptation to leave was very persuasive.
Welcome to Texas
When Magpul didn't pull out immediately, lefties were saying, "See, they were bluffing, they're not going anywhere." Now that they have begun to leave, the mantra is now, "Go take your genocidal product out of state, we don't need the jobs or tax income you evil bastards provide."
Bubye Chickenpooper.