[fastpat]

Originally posted by kach22i
Is this factory closing the result of international competition?

No. The only company of which I'm aware that competes is Uberti, an Italian maker. Their guns, such as the model 1873 lever action, cost more than Winchesters.

Did the workers make painful concessions too late to save the American factory?

Don't know. Doubt it.

Has lifting the ban on assault rifles in many states hurt regular rifle sales? I don't know a lot about this topic and how these manfacturing jobs differ from making washer and dryers or automobiles.

That's an interesting question, although you might be off by a couple of degrees. I was talking to my wife about this, she knew before I did because she read it in the newspaper this morning. The purchase of guns before the Gun Control Act of 1968 was mostly rifles and shotguns. Handguns were available, but were on the back burner of gun sales, that continued for several decades. As talk, and action in some cases, of handgun bans, became more intense more and more handguns were sold. Then, beginning in 1987 with Florida (well before Bush) modern concealed carry passed in a highly populated state as a response to out of control crime in metropolitan areas and handgun sales took off. As more and more states revised their formerly tight control on concealed carry, that generated more sales of handguns. Two additionalAn additional government action further increased handgun sales, the Assault Weapon Ban of 1994, which reduced magazine capacity to 10 rounds. That law, and the increased sophistication of concealed weapons carriers generated the smaller, lighter handguns specifically tailored for concealed carry. That expanded the handgun market.

All of the above took away from the traditional market for long guns. The day when you could go into your local hardware store and buy a Winchester Model 94 for $75.00 (the price in the late 50's) is long passed. Bill Clinton upped the Federal Firearms license fee to $200.00 for three years, something the federal government promised they'd never do, and George Bush has failed to lower it, meaning that more and more expensive firearms are required to pay for expenses. That's lots of handguns, and near custom rifles in the $1000.00 range and up.

Those are my observations, too bad really, I'd rather buy a model 94 instead of an M16, but these days I feel the need for the latter a lot more than the former.