Remington and Colt are threatening to relocate their factories if New York and Connecticut pass legislation requiring microstamping on semiautomatic handguns. Fox News reports …

“Mandatory microstamping would have an immediate impact of a loss of 50 jobs,” New York State Sen. James Seward, a Republican whose district includes Ilion, said, adding that Remington employs 1,100 workers in the town. “You’re talking about a company that has options in other states. Why should they be in a state that’s hostile to legal gun manufacturing? There could be serious negative economic impact with the passage of microstamping and other gun-control laws.”

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Fired cartridge from microstamped gun. Photo from The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence via. Joe Huffman

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New York Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel, a Democrat and the chief sponsor of the microstamping legislation on semiautomatic pistols that was last considered by the state’s full Senate in 2010, said she believes Remington’s vow is merely a threat.

“Their main product isn’t even semiautomatic guns; the main thrust of what they do are long guns and military contracts,” Schimel told FoxNews.com. “As a former businessman, it would be foolish for them to leave the New York market. They are getting a lot of money from the state.”

Implementation of microstamping technology would cost roughly $12 per gun and would go a long way to helping solve crimes, she said.

A cost of $12 per firearm is not inconsiderable. The other cost will be from decrease demand from consumers. Many consumers worry that brass cartridges with serial numbers will be collected by criminals at gun ranges and left at crime scenes. Any criminal with half a brain will use sandpaper to remove the microstamp from their firearms.

Last year Colt announced plans to open a new facility in Florida and earlier this year Remington announced the purchase of North Carolina based Para USA.

You can read more about microstamping at Joe Huffman’s blog.

[ Many thanks to jdun1911 for emailing me the link. ]