Thursday,  April 11, 2013 • Vol. 14--No. 266 • 21 of 38 •  Other Editions

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Conn. gun-maker declares intention to leave state
STEPHEN SINGER,AP Business Writer

• NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (AP) -- A Connecticut gun-maker announced on Wednesday it intends to leave the state, just six days after passage of restrictive gun control legislation, while two other manufacturers said they are considering relocation offers from other states.
• Manufacturers also plan to lobby the state's congressional delegation next week "to make sure they hear from our side," said Mark Malkowski, president of Stag Arms in New Britain.
• Bristol-based PTR said in a statement posted on its website that it has not decided where it will move, but has commitments from most employees to relocate. The company makes military-style rifles and employs more than 40 people. PTR Vice President John McNamara said the company expects to make a more formal announcement about a move within six weeks.
• "Along with other companies in the trade, we were deeply apprehensive at the hurried process to develop new gun laws and fearful that it would generate unin

tended consequences for our industry," the company said.
• With the legislation signed into law by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on April 4, "our worst fears were confirmed," the company said. "What emerged was a bill fraught with ambiguous definitions, insufficient considerations for the trade, conflicting mandates and disastrous consequences for the fundamental rights of the people of Connecticut."
• The Connecticut Valley in Connecticut and western Massachusetts has been home to a large gun industry dating to the Revolutionary War.
• Andrew Doba, a spokesman for Malloy, said the governor is committed to job creation, but additional gun restrictions were paramount following the shooting deaths in December of 20 children and six educators at an elementary school in Newtown.
• "On this particular issue he's been clear: We need to prioritize public safety and this bill will improve public safety," he said.
• The law adds more than 100 firearms to the state's assault weapons ban and creates what officials have called the nation's first dangerous weapon offender registry and eligibility rules for buying ammunition.
• Malkowski said he's received many emails from customers "fed up with Connecticut."

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