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Some Interesting History

July 10, 2013 by

I stumbled across some interesting history this morning. It turns out that the planned Ruger firearms factory in Mayodan will not be the first arms factory in Rockingham County. That honor goes to a factory owned by Alexander Searcy and Dr. J. S. Moore which made rifles for the Confederate Army in 1862-63.

Hogan’s Creek is located in western Rockingham County south of the towns of Madison and Mayodan.

According to a book on the Confederate Army in North Carolina and Tennessee, the rifles made at the Searcy & Moore plant were called “N.C. Rifles”. Only about 100 rifles were made at the Searcy & Moore factory.

The Searcy & Moore factory and all its equipment was purchased by the State of North Carolina in 1863 and transferred to the North Carolina Armory at Florence. This armory was started at the beginning of the war in the village of Florence which is just north of present day Jamestown. From the newsletter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans,  Frazier Camp:

The armory was still operating after the various contractors had gone out of business and assembled many guns from parts from these and other sources. One example of this was in July1863 when the State purchased all of the materials of Searcy & Moore (located at Rocky Springs in Rockingham County) and sent them to the Florence Armory. Henry Clay Briggs wrote that his father worked in the government gun shop at Florence for six months and that he made springs and triggers. This was the only military arms manufactory still operating in this area in April 1865 and was burned by Yankee raiders.

I’m sure when the Ruger plant is up and running it will make more firearms in one day than the Searcy & Moore factory did in a year. Still, I find the history of this small arms maker interesting.

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Mayodan Updates Ordinances For Ruger

July 10, 2013 by 1 Comment

The Town of Mayodan recognizes the importance of getting the new Ruger plant in their community. In addition to the expected economic incentives from the town, county, and state, Mayodan approved a change in their ordinances concerning the discharge of firearms within city limits.

According to the local paper, The News and Advance, Mayodan’s Town Council changed the ordinance Monday to allow firearms manufacturers to test firearms in their plant within city limits.

On Monday, Mayodan Town Council approved a set of amendments to a town ordinance prohibiting the discharge of firearms within the corporate limits.

One change allows industrial facilities to manufacture and test firearms “within an enclosed facility controlled by the manufacturer and not open to the general public as a shooting range.”

Town manager Michael Brandt told council members the exception allowed a firearms manufacturer to test their product at their own facility.

“To eliminate any gray area, we felt that exception should be included here also,” Brandt said. “So, this would make it clear that a manufacturer of firearms, when testing their materials, would be just like any other business testing their product before sales.”

It’s good to see a town treat a firearms compnay just like any other business.

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Mayodan Expects A Multiplier Effect On Jobs With Ruger

July 10, 2013 by

Officials with the Town of Mayodan and Rockingham County expect that the manufacturing jobs brought there with Ruger’s new manufacturing plant will only be the beginning. They expect a 2:1 ratio of jobs created as a result of Ruger’s expansion. These new jobs will come from both suppliers and service businesses such as restaurants and coffee shops.

WFMY News 2 in Greensboro reports on this expected multiplier effect. They also report on the site selection process that Ruger and its advisor Greyhill Advisors used to decide on Mayodan. I found it interesting that went so far as to attend the local churches to get a feel for the area.

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An Increase Is Still An Increase

July 10, 2013 by 1 Comment

The National Shooting Sports Foundation adjusted NICS background check numbers are out for the month of June. They show a 3% increase over the month of June 2012. This marks the 37th straight month in which the NSSF-adjusted NICS figures have increased.

The June 2013 NSSF-adjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 872,025 is an increase of 3.0 percent over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 846,437 in June 2012. For comparison, the unadjusted June 2013 NICS figure of 1,270,817 reflects a 1.5 percent decrease from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,290,210 in June 2012.

Note however that that unadjusted NICS numbers do show a decrease. I think we are starting to see the post-Newtown buying panic beginning to subside. My trips to the sporting goods department at my local Walmart have shown a gradual increase in the number of firearms available. In January, you might have found the odd shotgun or .22LR rifle. This past weekend at this Walmart I saw Colt, Bushmaster, and Windham Weaponry AR-15s along with a full complement of more traditional hunting rifles and shotguns. The gun case was full but the ammo supply were still virtually nonexistent.

It could be that we’ve reached a new plateau. Even if it is a plateau, the absolute number of firearms being sold are much greater than it was just two or three years ago. It will be interesting to see what July and August numbers show.

As always, I should caution that NICS background checks should be considered an indicator of trends and not sales. They are not a perfect correlation with firearms sales as several states use them for background checks on both new and active concealed carry permit holders.

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Dream On, Rahmbo

July 10, 2013 by 20 Comments

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel held a press conference today to bemoan the fact that Illinois will now finally have shall-issue concealed carry. He said he was glad Illinois was the last state to adopt concealed carry and that he hopes the Illinois General Assembly will allow Chicago to adopt its own stricter concealed carry ordinances.

He goes on to say that Chicago is different and that it “needs” gun control. I would agree with him that Chicago is different than Downstate – it has more shootings and murders than the rest of the state despite having much tougher gun control laws.

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.
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Rockingham County Will Make It All

July 10, 2013 by 5 Comments

When it comes to manufacturing it all, I don’t know if any place will be able to top Rockingham County, North Carolina. By all, I mean alcohol, tobacco, and firearms.

MillerCoors Brewing operates a large brewery in Eden.

Imperial Tobacco manufactures cigarettes in Reidsville.

The addition of Ruger’s planned manufacturing plant in Mayodan will now complete the trio.

I really can’t think of any other location where all three products are currently made by major manufacturers

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Quinn’s Veto Overriden In The Illinois General Assembly

July 9, 2013 by 1 Comment

Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto of HB 183 was overriden in the Illinois House today on a vote of 77 for and 31 against. It now goes to the Illinois Senate where Sen. Gary Forby (D-Marion) has introduced a motion to override the veto.

Today is the day that the stay issued by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in the joint cases of Shepard v. Madigan and Moore v. Madigan expires.

UPDATE: Interestingly enough, the Illinois State Police is prepared for the bill’s passage. It has up a  FAQ page on concealed carry permits including the cost of permits and the qualifications to obtain a permit.

UPDATE II: Both houses of the Illinois General Assembly overrode Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto. The Senate vote was 41 to 17.

The State of Illinois now has concealed carry. While it will take a while to get things up and running, the state does have concealed carry.

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It’s Official! Ruger Opening Plant In North Carolina

July 9, 2013 by 5 Comments

Move over Texas and South Carolina, Ruger has decided that their third plant will be in NORTH Carolina.

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc. Announces Pending Purchase of Third Manufacturing Facility In Mayodan, North Carolina

July 08, 2013

Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. (NYSE: RGR) announced today that it plans to open its third manufacturing plant, a 220,000 square foot facility in Mayodan, North Carolina. This will be the Company’s first major expansion in over 25 years and it is expected to be finalized in August.

The Company currently employs over 2,000 people in its two plants in Newport, New Hampshire and Prescott, Arizona.

 In mid-June, Ruger officials said they expected to make an announcement by August. They must have really liked what they saw in Mayodan and the Piedmont Triad.

UPDATE: While it hasn’t been confirmed, I believe the building that Ruger will use for its NC manufacturing plants is the old Unifi 15 plant. According to the NC Department of Commerce website listing available industrial sites, the building was built in 1989 and has a total of 221,600 usable square feet of space. It is located at the intersection of Cardwell Road and, I kid you not, Cupcake Trail in Mayodan. Looking at the location from Google maps, it appears to have plenty of room for expansion.

UPDATE II: According to WGHP Fox 8 in High Point, the plant shown above is the building that Ruger will be buying for their 3rd manufacturing plant. Gov. Pat McCrory (R-NC) is scheduled to make a major announcement today about an economic development and I anticipate it will be this plant. I’ll have more on that as it becomes available. (It was regarding a GE Aviation expansion – not Ruger).

As the report below makes clear, this is big news for the Piedmont Triad and especially for Mayodan and Rockingham County. They have an unemployment rate of greater than 10% so quality new jobs will be greatly welcomed.

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NSSF Sues Connecticut Officials In Federal Court

July 8, 2013 by 1 Comment

The National Shooting Sports Foundation filed suit today in US District Court for the District of Connecticut alleging that Connecticut leaders led by Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-CT) misused the emergency certification exception in order to pass gun control. The lawsuit contends the use of the emergency certification exception was invalid as it violated both Connecticut state statutes and the Connecticut Constitution. Moreover, they contend the action violated due process protections under both the Connecticut and the US Constitution. They are seeking to have SB 1160 declared void and unconstitutional and to enjoin the state and its officers from enforcing the provisions of SB 1160.

The NSSF is represented in this case by the Renzulli Law Firm and their own General Counsel Lawrence Keane.

The release from the NSSF regarding the case is below along with links to the complaint.

Firearms Industry Files Suit Alleging Process Used to Pass Gun Regulations Violated Connecticut Statutes and Constitution

NEWTOWN, Conn. — The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry, today filed suit in federal court for the District of Connecticut alleging that Gov. Dannel Malloy and the leadership of the Connecticut General Assembly misused the so-called “emergency certification” exception to circumvent the safeguards of the normal legislative process and in violation of Connecticut statutory law in order to pass Senate Bill 1160, a package of strict gun-control regulations.

The suit further alleges that enactment of the new law violates fundamental due process rights guaranteed by both the Connecticut and United States Constitutions. NSSF is asking the court to declare the law invalid and issue an injunction prohibiting its enforcement.

“A 139-page bill was assembled behind closed doors, bypassing both the public hearing and committee processes, and quickly sent to floor votes on the same day in both the House and Senate where legislators did not have adequate time to even read the bill. The governor then signed the package into law the next day. All of this is in violation of guarantees citizens are supposed to have under Connecticut State Statutes and protections in our State and U.S. Constitutions for which our forefathers fought,” said Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel, NSSF. “Our suit focuses on this abuse of process that has resulted in enacted law that does nothing to improve public safety, while resulting in adverse effects on law-abiding citizens, manufacturers, retailers and sportsmen’s organizations.”

The filing can be accessed at http://www.nssf.org/share/PDF/NSSFComplaint-FILED_070813.pdf.

The Connecticut Law Tribune recently editorialized on this topic. That editorial can be accessed at http://ctlawtribune.com/PubArticleCT.jsp?id=1202608974608

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Open Carry In Mississippi Still On Hold

July 8, 2013 by 1 Comment

Judge Winston Kidd extended his Temporary Restraining Order against HB 2 until Friday according to “Jackson Jambalaya” who attended the proceedings this afternoon. The state argues that HB 2 only clarified the definition of concealed and that open carry is allowed under the MS Constitution of 1891.

Rep. Andy Gipson (R-Rankin) who authored HB 2 released this statement earlier today before the beginning of the hearing.

“The Amended Complaint filed with the Hinds County Circuit Court on July 1, 2013 alleges that House Bill 2 (which defined the term “concealed”) is unconstitutional on three grounds:

1) “Unconstitutionally vague.” House Bill 2 defined concealed as: “hidden or obscured from common observation.” Moreover, examples are given as to what is not concealed such as carried in a holster open to common observation. HOW IS THIS VAGUE TO ANY COMMON SENSE PERSON???

2) “Overbroad.” House Bill 2 narrowly defined the word “concealed” to ascribe to it a meaning that can be understood by most people. If you can seesomeon has a gun, it’s not “concealed.” If you can’t see a gun, it is “concealed.” IF ANYTHING THE LEGISLATURE GAVE THE TERM “CONCEALED” A NARROW DEFINITION, NOT A BROAD DEFINITION. HOW CAN THIS BE UNCONSTITUTIONAL???

3) “Arbitrary and Capricious.” This is where it gets most interesting. The complaint alleges that the definition “is arbitrary and capricious in excusing persons who wish to openly-carry firearms from the license requirements imposed on persons who wish to carry concealed firearms.” TRANSLATION: HINDS COUNTY OFFICIALS WANT TO REQUIRE GUN LICENSING AND REGISTRATION OF ALL GUNS BEING CARRIED BY MISSISSIPPIANS. THIS IS THE SAME LINE OF THINKING BEING PUSHED IN WASHINGTON D.C. AND NEW YORK CITY, RIGHT HERE IN OUR OWN BACKYARD.”

UPDATE: MS Assistant Attorney General Harold Pizzetta who argued the state’s case before Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Winston Kidd had this clarification about the impact of Judge Kidd’s order.

Pizzetta said Kidd’s order applies to the entire state since it prevents the state from going forward with the law. That had some confusion whether Kidd’s earlier ruling applied to just Hinds County or the entire state.