Blumenthal fires back at efforts to court CT gunmakers

Following a letter by a Mississippi legislator asking Connecticut gun manufacturers to relocate to Mississippi, Sen. Richard Blumenthal fired back Friday arguing the letter is proof that the federal government needs to pass additional gun-control legislation.

“This preposterous pitch to companies with long, successful histories in our state shows the need for national standards and statutes to reduce gun violence,” he said in a statement. “Competition among states for less protective laws is a race to the bottom that should be avoided. The poison of illegal gun trafficking respects no state boundaries and threatens to cause more horrific tragedies like Newtown and the 1,900 gun violence deaths that have occurred since then.”

Philip Gunn, the speaker of the house in Mississippi, sent the letters to four Connecticut manufacturers and several others in Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and North Carolina.

“In our state, you will not be criticized for providing goods to the law abiding who enjoy hunting, shooting or who just want the peace of mind that comes with the constitutional right to protect their families,” Gunn wrote in a letter to Colt’s Manufacturing Co. L.L.C.