Gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson held a weekend ribbon cutting ceremony at its new $160 million headquarters in Maryville, leaving its former home in Massachusetts behind.
“From where I stand, the next 170 years of Smith & Wesson are looking pretty good,” said the company’s CEO and President Mark Smith (pictured above) at the ceremony. “It is something special here in Tennessee.”’
The company had been manufacturing its firearms in Springfield, Massachusetts since 1832, but in announcing that it would relocate to Tennessee in 2021, gave frank and practical reasons for the move.
Those reasons were:
- Support for the 2nd Amendment
- Business friendly environment
- Quality of life for employees
- Cost of living and affordability
- Access to higher education institutions
- Availability of qualified labor for its operations and headquarter functions
- Favorable location for efficiency of distribution
“The strong support we have received from the State of Tennessee and the entire leadership of Blount County throughout this process, combined with the quality of life, outdoor lifestyle, and low cost of living in the Greater Knoxville area has left no doubt that Tennessee is the ideal location for Smith & Wesson’s new headquarters,” Smith said at the time. “We would like to specifically thank Governor Lee for his decisive contributions and the entire state legislature for their unwavering support of the 2nd Amendment and for creating a welcoming, business friendly environment.”
The move brings 750 new jobs to Tennessee.
Massachusetts has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, including a ban on semiautomatic rifles, which some call “assault rifles.”
But Tennessee has seen its share of anti-gun measures this year, and protestors turned out for the grand opening of the new Smith & Wesson headquarters.
Students Demand Action, a left-wing group of high school and college students against guns, flew a helicopter over the event with anti-gun messaging, according to WATE.
Several members of the group also protested from the ground.
“We fully respect everybody’s rights, all their constitutional rights and the first amendment is one of their constitutional rights,” Smith reportedly said of the protests. “So in this country, that’s one of the beautiful things about this country is that we’re free to disagree with each other and so we respect their rights and today is just about celebrating us opening up this facility.”
After the Covenant School shooting in Nashville, which claimed six lives, lawmakers and activists stormed the state capitol to demand gun control, leading to Gov. Bill Lee (R) calling for red flag laws and a special session of the General Assembly to address gun violence.
That special session ended in August without any such legislation being passed.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Image “Smith & Wesson CEO Mark Smith” by Smith & Wesson.
