Colt Expands and Adds Jobs in Connecticut

We recently reported that the gun industry is responding to the “Trump Slump” in gun sales by laying off people. Remington laid off 120 workers and gun manufacturer stocks are plummeting as people are buying a lot less guns since the election.

Well, Colt announced that they were recovered from the bankruptcy they filed last year well enough to purchase the West Hartford, Connecticut, headquarters and manufacturing plant in order to invest $23 million into Connecticut.

Colt will not only keep the 600 people that currently work there, but will add 100 jobs over the next five years. The company is getting a $10 million loan from its economic development fund and $2 million of the purchase price will be forgiven if Colt meets the job goals it set. Colt has also agreed to increase its commitment to firearms safety education. Colt will add a safety section to its website that will include safety videos.

The facility and the land are assessed at $13 million. Colt’s been in business in Connecticut since 1847. Samuel Colt, the company’s founder, was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1814. After studying navigation on a sailing voyage after being kicked out of Amherst Academy, the young Colt became fascinated with the spinning and locking mechanisms of the ship’s wheels, and use that concept as inspiration for his revolving handgun patent.

By all accounts, the state’s governor, Dannell Malloy, seems happy with this announcement, but interestingly, many of the company’s products are banned in Connecticut. the state bans all semi-automatic “assault-style” rifles as well as magazines of more than 10 rounds. Many of Connecticut’s strict gun laws were passed following the killings of 20 elementary school students in Sandy Hook in 2012.