New York Republicans — including U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik and state Sen. Mark Walczyk — are hammering state Democrats over the slew of gun control regulations allegedly behind Remington Arms’ decision to close the historic Ilion, New York, factory.
On December 1, 2023, Breitbart News reported Remington had announced the factory close and noted that the factory in Ilion first opened nearly 200 years ago.
Remington sent a memo to Ilion employees, which said, “I am writing to inform you that RemArms, LLC has decided to close its entire operation at 14 Hoefler Avenue, NY 13357. The Company expects that operations at the Ilion Facility will conclude on or about March 4, 2024.”
On December 11, 2023, the Times Union pointed out that Stefanik hammered NY’s “unconstitutional gun-grab policies” as causing the closure.
Stefanik pointed to current Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul, saying, “Hochul must stop her unconstitutional assault on the Second Amendment now,”
Walcyzk likewise blamed the closure on the state’s stringent gun control environment, noting that NY adopted a state law which undercuts protections gun makers otherwise enjoy under the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. The state law is called the Gun Industry Liability Law, which was was signed by Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2021.
Remington Arms is opening a new facility in Georgia, to make up for the loss of the Ilion factory, and will continue to make firearms at its Huntsville, Alabama, factory as well.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at
