Oklahoma hopes to tap into shifting geography of the firearm manufacturing business

Gov. Kevin Stitt beamed a smile as he walked the floor of a Las Vegas convention center, looking for anyone willing to hear his pitch on why they should move their business to Oklahoma.

Stitt, a former CEO, has long made business recruitment a central part of his administration. But on this January morning, he was on the Vegas Strip specifically hoping to recruit firearm manufacturers by promoting Oklahoma’s pro-gun policies and a political climate that resists calls for gun control in the wake of mass shootings.

“We are a pro-Second Amendment state ... but these (firearm) industries are getting attacked in other markets and in other states,” Stitt, a Republican, said at this year’s SHOT Show, an annual firearm convention in Las Vegas.

The governor and several state commerce officials met with representatives from Sturm, Ruger and Co., a Connecticut-based gunmaker that is relocating operations after gun control policies in its home state.

Officials also spoke with the owner of a Canadian firm specializing in magazines for AR-15 rifles who said his nation’s laws were restricting his business. Several weeks later the Canadian businessman was in Oklahoma to scout possible locations.

For more than a decade state lawmakers have said gunmakers are welcome in Oklahoma, but a renewed recruitment effort under Stitt comes as many manufacturers are looking to leave Democratic states that have imposed tighter regulations in response to the nation’s gun violence epidemic.

Scrutiny has been especially strong toward high-capacity rifles, like AR-15s, which are used in many of the nation’s mass shootings but are also a core product for some firearm manufacturers.

'It really is the politics'

Like most companies, gunmakers want access to a skilled workforce, materials and financial capital.

But politics is driving the decisions of many manufacturers, said Tara Baker, CEO of The Avenue, a business recruitment firm that works with the state.

“It really is the politics, I think, that’s the appeal,” Baker said.

“It’s not like Oklahoma is giving away a bunch of free money, free land or free buildings, it really is just that you are going to be in a friendly space if you move here.”

More: Public Square: Readers weigh in on how to reverse gun violence trend

Baker said firearm manufacturers are not only facing tougher regulations in many liberal states, but they also find it challenging to do business with other sectors.

“In Oklahoma, you have a lot of investors and a lot of banks that are friendly (towards gun manufacturers),” Baker said. “Your average CPA in Oklahoma or your average bookkeeper, your average attorney is not prejudiced against the industry.”

Oklahoma lawmakers also have tried to ensure gunmakers have access to financial capital by pushing a bill that would ban state contracts with companies that “discriminate” against the firearm industry. Some banks impose qualifying conditions when loaning money to gun manufacturers but the legislation, if passed, would prevent those banks from doing business with state agencies.

"We’re not going to let big banks, processing companies, payroll companies discriminate against our assets," Stitt said at this year’s SHOT Show.

The geography of gun manufacturing has shifted

Oklahoma hasn’t landed a major gun manufacturer in recent years, but the local firearm industry has grown, mostly through small and medium-size operations.

In 2014, about 1,200 guns were made in Oklahoma, according to the annual firearms manufacturing report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

By 2021, more than 15,000 guns were being built in Oklahoma each year.

The growth in gun sales comes as there also has been a growth in gun violence. More than 21,000 Americans were killed by a firearm last year, according to data from Gun Violence Archive.

Federal lawmakers largely have been inactive on gun control policies, but Democratic-controlled states have made efforts to restrict gun sales and manufacturing, especially high-powered rifles used in many mass shootings.

More: As Oklahoma's gun access expanded, deaths from firearms increased

Two Oklahoma-based gunmakers declined interviews with The Oklahoman, citing a recent mass shooting in a Nashville school and not wanting to appear in a firearm-focused story.

But one owner acknowledged Oklahoma laws place no restrictions on gunmakers, “just the normal business license hoops that everyone has to jump through.”

The lack of regulations in many Republican states already has shifted the geography of gun manufacturing in America.

Twenty years ago, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, were the four leading states in total gun manufacturing.

Today, Missouri, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas are four of the top five gun-producing states.

“Even if gun companies aren’t necessarily moving their headquarters, many are expanding because of the growth in sales and looking to put those expansions in friendlier states,” said Mark Oliva, a public affairs director with the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

“This is a growing industry and some states are benefiting.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma sees future business in gun manufacturing