Coming off a major increase in earnings, officials at leading gun manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc. announced it has no plans to leave Connecticut.
At the Southport company’s annual shareholders meeting, which was April 30 and was broadcast online, CEO Michael Fifer said he didn”™t wish to disrupt his employees and move the company.
Since Connecticut passed a sweeping gun control bill in April, gun rights advocates have strongly urged gun makers to leave Connecticut. The law bans the sale of several Ruger-made models in Connecticut.
Several other states have also offered incentive packages to gun makers in the wake of the bill.
“We’ve got good engineers and a small headquarters,” Fifer said. “I’m not going to disrupt those people and move out.”
PTR Industries, Inc., a Farmington-based manufacturer with 45 employees, is currently the only Connecticut gun maker that has made official its plans to leave the state.
Earnings for Sturm, Ruger increased 53 percent in the first quarter of 2013, driven by the growth in gun sales nationwide. The company reported net income of $23.7 million, or $1.20 per share, compared to $15.5 million, or $0.79 per share, in the first quarter of 2012.
A dividend of $0.49 per common share will be issued May 24.
While the company doesn”™t plan to leave Connecticut, it does plan to increase its workforce outside of the state.
At the shareholders meeting, Fifer said the company was seeking a third manufacturing facility of about 250,000 square feet in addition to its production facilities in Arizona and New Hampshire. New products made up 35 percent of sales last quarter and Fifer said the company is hiring engineers to further explore new opportunities.
“We’ve got some great projects,” he said. “If you’ve got some great engineers that love guns, send them my way.”
