Gun-Hating New York Pols Paid $6 Million to Bushmaster Rifle Manufacturer

From the Mohawk Valley Observer-Dispatch comes this timeless example of big-government dissonance:

ALBANY–New York state has spent nearly $6 million over the past three years on subsidies for Remington Arms Co., the two-century-old factory in Ilion that makes firearms including semiautomatic rifles used by the military and police and like those used in the recent mass killings in Connecticut and Webster, N.Y.

Though several elected leaders in this tough-on-guns state want tighter restrictions on those military-style weapons, none say it's time to stop supporting the local company and risk the nearly 1,000 jobs it provides in the central New York community. […]

A spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said he has consistently said that he believes it's appropriate for lawmakers to support production of semiautomatic assault-style weapons for military and law enforcement use, but that the guns don't belong in the hands of civilians. Schumer, who has helped Remington secure Army contracts including an $8.9 million award in 2011 to produce 1,212 M24 sniper rifles, joined the company at last year's event announcing the move of Bushmaster to Ilion.

Here's a fun March 2011 article in which Schumer "encouraged company officials to 'knock on my door' if they ever feel the process for contract bidding has become unfair, or if federal regulations become overburdernsome."

A message for my gun-hating fellow New York taxpayers: This is just another example of how big government will always offend your values. Hate baseball, or the Yankees in particular? Too bad, you're paying for 'em. Can't stand junk food? You're subsidizing the stuff, from producer to consumer. The more government takes, redistributes, regulates, and insures, the more you are footing the bill for behaviors, industries, and practices you abhor. A first step toward protecting your bruised values is to stop supporting the use of tax dollars to "save jobs." 

Reason on corporate welfare here. Link via the Twitter feed of Hunter Walker.

Comments

[Ken Shultz]

"The more government takes, redistributes, regulates, and insures, the more you are footing the bill for behaviors, industries, and practices you abhor."

Yeah, so long as there's someone else representing you, that representative will be representing a lot of other people, too.

That's the problem with representative democracy--compared to markets, representative democracy is undemocratic. Contrary to popular opinion, nobody in Albany gives a shit what you think.

In a market, I get to represent myself.

It's outrageous that liberal and progressive New Yorkers should be forced by their politicians to financially support gun companies.

[R C Dean]

Almost there, Ken.

It's outrageous that liberal and progressive any New Yorkers should be forced by their politicians to financially support gun companies.

[mad libertarian guy]

Not quite RC . . .

It's outrageous that liberal and progressive any New Yorkers should be forced by their politicians to financially support gun any companiesy.

[Brandon]

It's outrageous that liberal and progressive New Yorkers should be forced by their politicians to financially support gun companies.

Fuck you, Ken. "Liberal and Progressive" New Yorkers have voted for exactly this type of shit for decades. Who do you think has supported Bitchtits' parasitic career? What's outrageous is that the libertarian or small-government-supporting New Yorkers are forced to pay for this shit right along with them.

[Rhywun]

I didn't know Meat Loaf was in office.

[Ken Shultz]

"Liberal and Progressive" New Yorkers have voted for exactly this type of shit for decades.

Out of all the millions of New Yorkers, the only people who were voting to financially support gun companies were people who work for gun companies.

They weren't voting for exactly this type of shit at all--and they should be outraged that they're being forced to pay for shit they abhor.

[Gannicus]

"They weren't voting for exactly this type of shit at all--and they should be outraged that they're being forced to pay for shit they abhor."

I disagree Ken. If you support statist, big government folks like Schumer then you EXPLICITLY are voting for and supporting things like in this post. It is an inevitable outcome from putting into office people like Schumer. No other possible outcome could be expected from giving power to people like him.

[Ken Shultz]

"If you support statist, big government folks like Schumer then you EXPLICITLY are voting for and supporting things like in this post."

Wrong again.

None of us get what we vote for.

If you voted for Democrats becasue you wanted to stick it to cultural conservatives, you did not vote to finance gun manufacturers with your paycheck...

And here's another clue you may have missed: voting for Republicans because you want to stick it to central planners doesn't mean you want to support Team Red in the culture war, and it doesn't mean you want to invade some new country in the Middle East either.

Nobody gets what they want from representative democracy. Politicians are not the solution to any problem. People who think that politicians are the solution to our problems are the problem. And if that's you, then you're part of the problem, too.

No matter what team you voted for.

[Brandon]

But they won't be outraged enough to actually elect someone other than Schumer, will they? If you vote for a parasitic authoritarian, you get a parasitic authoritarian.

[Ken Shultz]

Politicians are not the solution to our problems.

The solutions we want on a diversity of issues can never be properly represented by voting for one candidate or party over another.

That's why the government should stay out of it and let us solve our own problems. If you don't want to support gun manufacturers with your paycheck, you shouldn't have to.

...even if the only two politicians you had to choose from on the ballot were a couple of jackasses on completely separate issues.

[LarryA]

Out of all the millions of New Yorkers, the only people who were voting to financially support gun companies were people who work for gun companies.

Anyone want to bet the Ilion Chamber of Commerce protested? Or the city council? Or the county commissioners? Or the school district tax collectors? Or...

[Scarecrow Repair]

Any government powerful enough to do things you like against the wishes of your fellow citizens can also do things your fellow citizens like against your wishes.

And there are a lot more fellow citizens than you. Therefore, ipso facto, QED, your government is going to make you do a lot more things you don't like than it makes your fellow citizens do things you like.

[Ken Shultz]

Damn straight.

Representative democracy is an improvement over monarchy because we get to vote the bums out of office. ...and that's just about the only good thing about it.

You don't get what you want in a representative democracy.

You get what you want by shopping online.

[CosmoWenman]

Restricting market incumbents' output AND giving them subsidies; they couldn't design a better cartel arrangement if they tried.

[Anonymous Coward]

A spokeswoman for U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said he has consistently said that he believes it's appropriate for lawmakers to support production of semiautomatic assault-style weapons for military and law enforcement use, but that the guns don't belong in the hands of civilians.

Peasants and villeins have no need of weapons. Their lords will protect them.

[mad libertarian guy]

Is giving contracts to Remington for military and police weapons not enough of a subsidy? They need other dollars just to get going too?

What the fuck.

[LarryA]

Actually, the military and most law enforcement don't use semiauto rifles. They use the rock-n-roll versions. They use real assault rifles.

[The Late P Brooks]

Policemen and soldiers have been properly vetted.

Civilians can just hide under their desks.

[Drake]

MA does the same thing. Kahr / Auto-Ordnance and Springfield still make guns there - many of which can't be sold in state. Most of the other machine-shop factories left state long ago.

Springfield sells some cop guns (XD's made in Croatia) but the MA made guns are mostly civilian and a little military stuff.

[db]

As I suspected, new gun control propositions will use the long-established NFA framework to further restrict citizens' access to firearms. It appears the NRA is going to have to face the ugly truth that while they've sold the NFA firearms community down the line for decades as the redheaded stepchildren of the gun-owning community, the NFA will have to become an important part of their efforts.

This new ban from Feinstein is particularly egregious, as it creates a new category of NFA regulated firearms and simultaneously prohibits their transfer, such that upon the death of the registered owner, the firearms will be forfeit to the government. I haven't read enough yet to see if this language is applied to current NFA weapons as well.

The language that prohibits transfer amounts to as close to a total ban as is possible, and it may be that it would be found to conflict with the Heller and McDonald decisions.

[Michael S. Langston]

For example, whereas the 1994 ban applied to a rifle or shotgun the "pistol grip" of which "protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon," the new bill would drastically expand the definition to include any "grip . . . or any other characteristic that can function as a grip." Also, the new bill adds "forward grip" to the list of prohibiting features for rifles, defining it as "a grip located forward of the trigger that functions as a pistol grip."

So my 22 M&P will be "banned"...

& I guess since she's doing this on 1/3, she hasn't head about the FiscalCliff?

[db]

Yeah, how are they going to finance the massive expansion of the ATF NFA Branch to handle the absolute flood of registrations such a law would create?

This has all the makings of Canada's embarrassingly failed Long Gun Registry, part Deux.

[Drake]

Finance? How do they finance anything? The money just magically appears.

[R C Dean]

"grip . . . or any other characteristic that can function as a grip."

Sounds like any gun with a stock to me.

[mad libertarian guy]

You mean the forward grip that is completely removable, and serves nothing like a pistol grip?

[Rich]

draft of the bill obtained by NRA-ILA

Does anyone have a link to this draft? (Not the "summary".)

[db]

No, NRA has not released the draft they claim to have. Their description matches well with the one someone else posted, quoting Feinstein's web site. The difference appears to be that NRA sees language that prohibits transfer, whereas Feinstein's site is murky on that issue.

[R C Dean]

The difference appears to be that NRA sees language that prohibits transfer, whereas Feinstein's site is murky on that issue.

Her site seems pretty clear to me.

Bans the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of:
120 specifically-named firearms;
Certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and have one or more military characteristics; and
Semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.

[Ptah-Hotep]

I wonder, can you put your guns in a trust?

[sloopyinca]

Thanks for bring up that loophole, which is now closed.

/DiFi

[Ptah-Hotep]

Just finished reading Glock: The Rise of America's Gun . They were brilliantly devious bastards. Almost makes me want to get a Glock. Well worth the reading simply for the way in which they went around every government reg put in place to stop them.

[Jeff]

At the end of the day they still love corporate welfare more than they hate guns.

[Jordan]

I love how the gun grabbing retards have latched onto the "Bushmaster" name, as if there aren't dozens of other scary black rifles. It's like using the word "Corvette" to represent every sports car.

[nicole]

I know, me too. It's not even a particularly scary brand name (to me). This is what happens when people learn exactly one thing.

[Jeff]

Not scary? Come on. It says "Bush" right in there!

[Rich]

*And* "Master"!

That's RACIST!!

[kinnath]

A bush in the hand is worth two on the street.

[Jordan]

I think you're doing it wrong. Usually the hand goes in the bush.

[Romulus Augustus]

I'll bet a lot of "mob defense weapon" owners are going to report them "stolen" so as to be removed from the lists of gun owners.
I doubt the cops are going to search one's flower beds for hidden stashes. Any opinions on what is the best way to bury weapons so they can't be ruined by water intrusion, racoons, or whatever?

[db]

My opinion is to spend your time contacting your representatives and not dreaming up schemes to bury your guns. The right way to address this is through strong vocal opposition to the bill.

[Jordan]

Yes, I agree with this. I actually don't think the bill has a chance in hell of passing.

[Jordan]

I just won't comply with searches. And will resist violently if necessary. In light of all the NDAA, FISA, kill list shit, I think this is the breaking point.

[Drake]

That's one reason why it could never pass. It would start a civil war.

[Brendan]

DING DING DING!

I want it to pass the way her site lays it out.

There's more then enough of a case to be made that semi-auto weapons are protected under the 2nd amendment as well as the weird standard implied in DC v Heller. There's nothing unique or deadly about these firearms.

The gun control groups are becoming the greatest gift to gun rights. They talk about "compromise" and "discussion" but were unwilling to do either about handguns in DC and we FINALLY got DC v Heller. They foolishly dug in their heels with Chicago and we got Chicago v McDonald.
Imagine the same with 'assault weapon' bans.

So this bill passes and outrages nearly everyone with a semi-automatic rifle. It should be easy to do a repeat of 1994 and flip the Senate to the Republicans and strengthen the House majority. Not saying I like the Rs, but I think they're slightly better then the Ds. A new Republican majority and Democrat president-We might get a budget passed!

The registration requirement might be lucky to hit 20% compliance. If they ever try to enforce any sort of door-to-door checks or compliance enforcement, that's the end of the US as we know it-enough ATF agents and cops will be killed doing this that we'll either have a deeper police state, OR they'll be forced to back down. Regardless, we'll see widespread disobedience and disrespect for the law, maybe even open disregard for laws on sales and manufacture.

[Brendan]

If this bill passes, the shit hits the fan for the gun control movement no matter the post-ban outcomes.

[The Late P Brooks]

the best way to bury weapons

What do they call those things they advertise on teevee? Spacebags?

Maybe they make (or will make) long narrow ones. I would.

[SweatingGin]

Probably too late for this to be seen, but this seems neat.

I'm incline to take the view someone on here or twitter mentioned. If it's time to bury your guns, it's time to dig them up.

[sloopyinca]

FTA: Schumer, who has helped Remington secure Army contracts including an $8.9 million award in 2011 to produce 1,212 M24 sniper rifles, joined the company at last year's event announcing the move of Bushmaster to Ilion.

Do the math. That's $7,343 per gun. What the fuck are we paying that much per gun for? We don't even use snipers anymore now that Obama's murderdrone program has proven to make targeted assassinations without "collateral damage" a thing of the past.

[sarcasmic]

We don't even use snipers anymore

What do you mean? Every police department needs at least one.

[Brendan]

Just one?

Do you have any idea how much harm a dog can to a cop?

Some of them can smell a person from hundreds of yards away, some more than a mile. On top of that, most of them can run much faster then a person.

The only way to be safe is to take them out before they take you out, and that means you need to have something that can stop them at 1000 yards or more.

[Drake]

Sniper rifles are still used and they aren't cheap. But that price still seems steep. I hope the $8.9 million wasn't just for the M24's.

[sloopyinca]

You can hope in one had and shit in the other. Let me know which one fills up first.

[mad libertarian guy]

It's not that the guns themselves are that expensive. It's the pockets that were lined.

[Redmanfms]

It's total procurement. It's the rifle, scope, associated carriage to protect the weapon, etc, etc. Precision rifles themselves aren't cheap, and neither are optics.

[Redmanfms]

Of course it is entirely possible it is the rifle by itself.

Even if that is the case, that is actually not out of the realm of reasonableness for a precision rifle. My Palma rifle was in the $8,000 range.

[sloopyinca]

Oh, I'd be willing to bet the scope and carriage are part of another Congressman's plan to secure votes through government funding.

Whose district are Nightforce or S&B located in?

[mad libertarian guy]

They are "trued" Rem 700 actions with a 5R barrel and near indestructible HS-Precision stock. You can buy one for about $3350 from a top of the line rifle smith. The optics are another ~$3200 and are top notch.

GAP makes whoopass rifles, BTW. My custom 6.5 Creedmoor is the bees knees.

[db]

The M24 is a very very customized rifle. You can buy Remington 700 5R rifles that shoot well under 1/2 MOA. They are made with parts that were rejected for M24 rifles.

[Gray Ghost]

Probably also covers maintenance and armorer training too. Not that the price still isn't ridiculous, but have you seen what, e.g., McMillan charges for a complete rifle?

[The Late P Brooks]

Out of all the millions of New Yorkers, the only people who were voting to financially support gun companies were people who work for gun companies.

Yeah, it was all those evul crony capitalist libertarians who put Chuck Schumer in the Senate.

[sloopyinca]

Too late for AM Links, but meet Cool Hand Dhaou. He got to 28 raw eggs before he died from stomach pains.

The DF goes on to explain why pasteurized eggs should be used for everything.*

*As if the guy had time to catch salmonella by scarfing down raw eggs.

[Jordan]

There was a guy who died recently in a roach eating contest (no I'm not kidding). The prize was a boa constrictor from a pet store. It turned out that the cause of death was inhaling roach parts. Yes, his lungs were filled with little roach bits.

[nicole]

Wow, I never heard what the cause of death was in that one, and that is super fucking gross.

[Jordan]

Yeah, no kidding. Just in case anybody needed another reason to not eat roaches, there it is.

[sarcasmic]

Choked on his own vomit.

[Jordan]

Oh, I was partially wrong. The roach parts were stuck in his throat, not his lungs. Not sure if I misheard the radio report, or it was just wrong.

[Jordan]

Oh, and Cool Hand is a badass name. If you have another baby naming contest, I'm going for broke on that name.

[sloopyinca]

Hopefully in another 12 months...(gotta beat that taxman with another December baby)

[sarcasmic]

So you plan to punish another child with a birthday near Christmas?

You cruel, cruel soul.

[sloopyinca]

No, we plan on punishing the taxman, and by extension the American people, by not paying our fair share in taxes by having a December baby.

[Solanum]

Alt text: "Hiya big boy. Is that an assault weapon in your khakis or are you just happy to see me?"

[sam enderby]

Nice job Matt-an easy target. Try something a little more daring like putting your "reason" to the test where government incentives of all kinds, tax breaks, subsidies, foreign tax credits, name it are given like candy to oh, say, the oil and gas industries some even owned by the very patrons of this publication. "Bruised values"? c'mon.