Conn. Dems propose turning gun factory into national park

Model 1911s — Colt’s centennial celebration of the venerable Model 1911 .45-caliber pistol. Photo credit www.americanrifleman.org

Connecticut’s Congressional delegation members are doing their level best to impose tough restrictions on the manufacture, sale and possession of firearms while seeking to have the historic Colt gun factory declared a national park. Don’t politicians ever listen to them selves?

Colt’s Manufacturing Co. of Hartford, Conn. is America’s oldest gunmaker, and Connecticut Democrats U.S. Rep. John Larson and Sen. Richard Blumenthal want to recognize that fact.

They introduced the Coltsville National Historical Park Act, which would elevate the site of Samuel Colt’s Firearms Manufacturing Company from national “landmark” to “park” status, and direct the Secretary of the Interior to administer it.

In promoting the measure, Blumenthal said the park would enshrine “Colt’s powerful role in advancing the industrial revolution in Connecticut and nationwide,” according to The Hill.

“I applaud Senator Blumenthal and Senator Murphy for their support along with many other state and local leaders, and look forward to working towards the National Park status this Congress,” Larson said, adding that the Coltsville complex was “central to the birth of precision manufacturing in America.”

The death “of precision manufacturing in America” may very well be spurred by gun control legislation supported by these same Democratic lawmakers. Of special concern to Colt is a proposed ban on so-called “assault rifles,” such as the AR-15, which account for a significant part of its business.

As much as “80 percent of [Colt’s] business is selling semiautomatic rifles with the AR-15 platform,” said Mike Holmes, according to The Day. Holmes is the shop chairman who represents the bargaining unit workers at Colt’s.

The tragic massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Mass. sparked the explosion of recent gun control legislation.

The Hill’s Pete Kasperowicz notes:

Immediately after the shooting, Larson called for universal background checks for all gun purchases, and a ban on the sale of assault weapons and high-capacity clips.

Earlier this month, when Senate Democrats decided not to go forward with an assault-weapons ban, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said he still supports such legislation and said the effort will be a marathon, “not a sprint.”

Although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., isn’t bringing the assault weapons ban up for a vote, he expects that ban to be introduced in the form of an amendment to other gun control legislation that will be presented to the Senate floor.

The irony of these lawmakers placing on a pedestal with one hand the very industry they’re trying to put out of business with the other is just too rich for words.

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