The SHOT Show wasn’t just a showcase for the firearms industry. State leaders are competing for firearms businesses too.
“It’s not just a matter of saying we believe in the Second Amendment. We live the outdoors.” said Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on a SHOT Show TV appearance with Georgia’s Bert Brantley Chief Operating Officer of the Economic Development Council. They spoke with NSSF’s Larry Keane, Senior Vice President for Government and Public Affairs.
Gov. Hutchinson and Brantley discussed efforts by Arkansas and Georgia to attract and grow the firearms and ammunition industry in their respective states, and what they believe are the key areas of praise and concern happening right now across the country. Both federal and state-level regulations and legislative policies have had a tremendous, and positive impact on recruiting firearms businesses to relocate or expand to states that offer more friendly business environments and respect the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
“The difference is in many states … gun-manufacturers are tolerated if at all, whereas in the South – they are embraced,” Gov. Hutchinson explained.
WATCH:
Larry Keane is Senior Vice President of Government and Public Affairs and General Counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms industry trade association.