South Carolina state Rep. Alan Clemmons is visiting Connecticut today in the hopes of luring gun makers to his home state.
Rep. Clemmons plans to visit with several Connecticut gun manufacturers and suppliers, including: Stag Arms in New Britain and PTR Industries in Bristol.
Stag Arms owner, Mark Malkowski has said in the past that he’s considering taking his company out of the state. Malkowski confirmed that Rep. Clemmons is visiting his facility this afternoon at 1 p.m.
Hartford Courant columnist Dan Haar reported Malkowski’s meeting with Texas Gov. Rick Perry in early May. The Stag Arms owner attended the NRA convention in Houston.
“There are some intense meetings going on between the owner of Stag Arms and Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas at the NRA show in Houston,” Stag posted on its Facebook page along with a picture of Perry and Malkowski. Read the full story by Dan Haar on courant.com.
Fox CT reporter Tony Terzi met with Rep. Clemmons as he arrived at Bradley International Airport. Terzi asked the representative if he was visiting Stag Arms as part of negotiations.
“I’m actually here because [negotiations] are at a critical juncture,” said Rep. Clemmons.
Rep. Clemmons also admitted that the photograph of Mark Malkowski and Gov. Rick Perry spurred him to make the trip from South Carolina.
On April 9, 2013, PTR Industries released a statement on its website saying that the company planned to relocate out of the state of Connecticut.
“Although PTR has not decided upon a specific relocation site at this time, over the coming weeks the company will be actively considering offers from states that are friendly to the [gun] industry.” Read the full statement on PTR91.com.
Fox Connecticut’s Tony Terzi will have more on these meetings later today on the Fox CT News at 4 and 5 p.m.