Two firearm manufacturers are planning to leave Illinois and move to (possibly) Iowa. The City Council of La Claire has welcome arms [Another bad pun!–ed.] but some of the residents as well as the local state anti-gun group are fighting the move:

The Illinois law, which appears headed toward passage, would make it illegal for Les Baer to run his gun factory near Rock Island, Ill., where he and his 14 employees produce high-caliber pistols and assault rifles. So Baer looked for room in Le Claire, just over the Mississippi River, to set up shop.

“It’s close,” he said of the proposed location, nearly three acres of commercially zoned wooded area. “My employees are very much in favor of this move.”

Le Claire city officials welcomed the idea with offers of tax breaks and cheap land to help Baer get started.

That’s when a local former minister and his wife stepped in.

J. Elmer Brunk and Cynthia Vaughan upped the ante with a higher bid for the property. Their offer put the City Council squarely in the middle of what has turned into a small-town Second Amendment debate that has attracted a group wanting to reduce gun violence.

“What is the state of Iowa doing by allowing that kind of business to come here?” Vaughan asked.

[…]

The group Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence in Cedar Rapids has spearheaded an effort to stop the land sale to Baer. Spokesman John Johnson said a plant that customizes semiautomatic rifles and handguns sends a negative message to visitors and townsfolk alike.

“Every feature on the guns are designed for mass killing, so does it make sense to sell these to the general public?” Johnson asked. “Semiautomatic weapons are designed for combat. A military weapon is designed for mass killing.”

Leah Woodward, executive director of the group called Baer’s company “Illinois’ garbage” at a packed two-hour council meeting earlier this week. Woodward said assault weapons manufacturers in Illinois “are getting kicked to the curb, and for good reason.”

This is the kind of mentality the left has. A good, well run business manufacturing a legal product, offering high paying jobs, is called “garbage” by a state anti-Bill of Rights group’s spokesman. As for hurting the “image” of a town, that’s just ridiculous. Firearm companies tend to draw enthusiasts and other visitors looking for a tour, which means additional tourist dollars being spent in town at restaurants, gas stations, motels, and so on.

As the article points out, Les Baer makes expensive stuff, not cheap so-called “Saturday Night Specials” but it wouldn’t matter if they did. Iowa, as with many mid-west states, has seen a loss of manufacturing jobs and any legal business that could move in and provide new ones should be welcome.

ArmaLite is also looking to move from Illinois. This is all due to the ridiculous legislation moving forward in that state, and that Gov. Rod Blagojevich, fool that he is, will sign, that would prevent the manufacture of many popular guns. He, of course, is doing everything he can to lose jobs for that state and to negate the Bill of Rights.