Remington, the nation’s oldest gun manufacturer, will leave the tiny New York village it has called home for two centuries and relocate in Georgia.

The company has been the ‘soul’ of Ilion, located in New York’s Mohawk Valley, for over 200 years.

“Two hundred and eight years of history. Gone, gone,” Ilion, New York, Mayor John P. Stephens told The New York Times.

Remington previously announced its plan to close its New York factory, citing costs.

The company mentioned Georgia is a more firearm-friendly state.

FOX Business reports:

Remington is the nation’s oldest gun manufacturer and told union officials late last year that company chiefs at RemArms, the current version of Remington Arms, made the decision to end its New York manufacturing come March. The remaining operations located in Ilion will move to Georgia, where company leaders say the firearms industry is supported and welcomed.

Residents of the New York village, which is located roughly 230 miles northwest of New York City, are bracing for the manufacturer to officially move, which some say will take part of the town’s identity with it.

“When Remington leaves, it’s not going to be like a facility leaving, it’s going to be like part of your family has moved off,” Jim Conover, a retired Remington employee who began his career there in 1964, told The Associated Press.

A furnace operator and technician at the factory, Frank “Rusty” Brown, told the outlet that he and generations of his family worked at the facility and noted he and his wife will be out of jobs.

“My mom worked there. My dad worked there. My wife works there with me now. My daughter works there with me now. My second daughter works there with me now. And my son-in-law works there,” Brown said. “So it’s a double-hit for me and my wife: two of us out of a job.”

From the Associated Press:

The current owners of Remington Firearms, RemArms, blamed “production inefficiencies” for the plant closure in a Nov. 30 letter to union officials. They cited the high cost of maintaining and insuring about 1 million square feet (92,903 square meters) of space in multiple buildings, many dating to World War I.

RemArms added that Georgia offered an environment that better “supports and welcomes the firearms industry.”

CEO Ken D’Arcy also said in a news release that the industry was concerned about the “legislative environment” in New York.

Some believe Remington is primarily shifting to the South to reduce labor and operational costs.

But in a stretch of upstate New York where support for gun rights tends to be strong, some Republican elected officials seized on the company’s comment about Georgia. They linked the plant closure to gun control measures championed by New York City-area Democrats in recent years.

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