Legislative leaders are meeting this week to try and cobble together new laws in response to the Newtown shootings. As WNPR's Jeff Cohen reports, gun makers and owners showed up to the state capitol in force today to weigh in. Manufacturers of guns and gun parts say it's simple: some of the proposed gun laws will cost the state jobs.
"I'm Jonathan Scalise. I own Ammunition Storage Components in New Britain, Connecticut. We're a manufacturer of rifle and pistol magazines." Some Democrats in the state, including the governor, want to limit the amount of bullets those magazines can hold. Scalise says that would clearly hurt his business. But you know what hurts his business already?
The debate about guns itself. "We already have a number of customers who have come back to us and said, 'We love your products, we love what you guys do, but, unfortunately, we cannot continue to support Connecticut. We cannot continue to buy your products in the fashion that we do because we are not going to pump money into the Connecticut economy when they don't respect our rights."
Mark Malkowksi owns Stag Arms in New Britain. His company makes the type of weapon used in the Newtown shootings. He closed his factory and, with his employees, came to the capitol to speak. "They all came in, they came to me and said, 'We want to come down today and speak to the delegation and let people know that we want to keep our jobs and we want to stay in Connecticut." The rally wasn't only about jobs. For many, it was about basic gun rights.
Joel Martin lives in East Haddam. He and his eight-year-old son like to spend weekends together shooting, and he doesn't want the state to take that away from him. "Everything I own has never done anything wrong, or wrong to anybody else. I don't see why I should be told that I can't own it."
Craig Miner is a Republican state representative who co-chaired the legislature's subcommittee on guns. "When I look around this place, how many have done anything wrong with a gun? I think most of them have not. If not all of them have not, yet they're going to be put upon. I think they're willing to look at options that make sense." As he spoke, those gathered broke into song.
