No big surprise that Arizona is a gun friendly state. After all, it made the Colt Single Action Army revolver the state firearm just this year. It turns out the Grand Canyon State is just as welcoming a place for gun makers.
As the Arizona Republic recently reported, “More than 100 manufacturers of firearms and components [are located] in Arizona…Those manufacturers generate hundreds of millions of dollars in annual sales. The state has mainstream manufacturers such as Sturm, Ruger & Co., which operates a pistol manufacturing facility in Prescott. It also is home to boutique companies, such as Patriot Ordnance Factory, a Glendale semiautomatic rifle maker, and Coharie Arms Inc., which assembles clones of MP5 semiautomatic rifles in Mesa.”
All told, these businesses provide over 1,000 jobs in the state. “It's a great state for firearms,” said Kelly McMillan, president of McMillan Fiberglass Stocks and an officer in the related McMillan Firearms Manufacturing. “The politics are pro-firearms, and the weather is as good as it gets for making fiberglass gun stocks.”
Phoenix-based Robar Companies Inc. builds and customizes rifles used by SWAT teams. Robar founder Robbie Barrkman said the pro-shooting culture is a big draw for manufacturers.
“There is a big shooting public in Arizona,” he said. “There are lots of gun owners and lots of places were they can shoot.”
Source: Arizona Republic 7/15/11
