NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, welcomes Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to join NSSF’s 3rd Annual Governors’ Forum at SHOT Show® 2024. Gov. Huckabee Sanders joins six other state governors to discuss the importance of the firearm industry to their states, Second Amendment rights of their citizens and their insights to challenges and opportunities ahead for gun rights in the United States.

Confirmed for the Governors’ Forum is (in alphabetical order of states):

Arkansas – Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Idaho – Governor Brad Little

Montana – Governor Greg Gianforte

Nebraska – Governor Jim Pillen

Nevada – Governor Joe Lombardo

Oklahoma – Governor Kevin Stitt

Wyoming – Governor Mark Gordon

“The governors invited to speak at this year’s forum are the leading voices for protecting Second Amendment rights and the firearm and ammunition industry that provides the means for Americans to lawfully exercise those rights,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President & General Counsel. “NSSF’s Governors’ Forum provides a unique opportunity for SHOT Show attendees and industry media to hear directly from those governors, especially as we head into an election year when the Biden administration has squarely taken aim at our industry in an effort to decimate it. These governors are the vanguard of American liberties and the values we hold dear. NSSF has regularly welcomed governors to SHOT Show, but this is a truly special chance to gather with these governors in one space to speak about the importance of the firearm industry and Second Amendment freedoms to their states.”

NSSF’s Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show), will take place at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas from Jan. 23-26, 2024. The Governors’ Forum, moderated by Keane, will host the annual Governors’ Forum at SHOT Show on Wednesday, Jan. 24, from 1-2 p.m. at Venetian Expo, Palazzo M (5th floor). NSSF is hosting governors to discuss the importance of the industry to their state, the legislative landscape and what can and should be done to protect the industry from gun control special interests threatening the firearm and ammunition industry and Second Amendment rights.

More governors may be added to the forum as schedules permit. The Governors’ Forum is open to all SHOT Show attendees and media. Those interested in attending should register here to save their spot.

Below is a list of previous announced moves to relocate firearm business headquarters and expand production to new states:

Alabama

• Kimber expanded production to Troy, over Yonkers, New York. It later relocated its corporate headquarters to Alabama.

Georgia

• Remington Firearms announced it will establish a global headquarters, research and development and expand production in La Grange. RemArms made their recent announcement that all Ilion, New York, manufacturing operations will move to La Grange as well.
• Taurus moved production to Bainbridge, Georgia, from South Florida in 2019.

Iowa

• Les Baer moved from restrictive Illinois to LeClaire, Iowa, in 2007.
• Lewis Machine & Tool Company (LMT) left Illinois after 40 years to relocate to Iowa in 2019.

Mississippi

• Olin Corporation’s Winchester Ammunition moved most production from East Alton, Illinois, to Oxford in 2011.

North Carolina

• Sturm, Ruger and Co. expanded production in Mayodan, North Carolina, in 2013.

Pennsylvania

• Kahr Arms moved their headquarters to Greely, Pennsylvania, from New York after the state rushed through passage of the SAFE Act. And pulling most of its manufacturing out of Worcester, Massachusetts.

South Carolina

• American Tactical Imports relocated 100 jobs and its manufacturing from Rochester, New York, to Summerville, South Carolina, in 2013.
• PTR Industries left Connecticut for Aynor, South Carolina in 2013, where it set up shop.

Tennessee

• Beretta moved firearm production and engineering and design to Gallatin, Tennessee, from Maryland in 2015 over concerns of increasingly strict gun control legislation.
• Smith & Wesson opened their new headquarters and manufacturing facility in Maryville, Tennessee in 2023.

Texas

• Mossberg expanded production in Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2013, instead of growing its North Haven, Connecticut, plant.
• Colt Competition moved from Canby, Oregon, to Breckenridge, Texas, in 2013.

Wyoming

• Magpul Industries left Boulder, Colorado, after the state passed magazine restrictions and moved production to Laramie, Wyoming.
• Weatherby Inc.’s Adam Weatherby announced at SHOT Show in 2018 that he was moving the company from California to Sheridan, Wyoming.
• Accessories maker HiViz announced in 2013 they were leaving Fort Collins, Colorado, over restrictive gun control legislation to Laramie, Wyoming.
• Stag Arms announced opened their facility in Cheyenne, Wyoming, after announcing in 2019 they were leaving their former headquarters in New Britain, Conn.

For more information, visit nssf.org.