‘Affordability’? Virginia Drives Gun Manufacturer to Cheaper Georgia

Gov. Abigail Spanberger and whatever members of the Virginia Democratic Party that aren’t in a war of words with her still speak of fulfilling their affordability agenda, which we have debunked in earlier columns as nothing more than more taxpayer-funded subsidies or draconian controls on providers like landlords.

However, the news that Rideout Arsenal, a firearms designer and manufacturer, will be moving from Fredericksburg to a new, $22 million manufacturing facility in Thomasville, Georgia, brings new questions about their real commitment to affordability.

According to surveys developed by Robert Half, a human resources consulting firm, and conducted by independent research firms, 62 percent of Americans would relocate if their job moved and 75 percent of 18- to 35-year-olds would.

So, let’s say that 50 percent of the 100 jobs Gov. Brian Kemp announced this week in telling the Georgia press about Rideout’s move are ex-pat Virginians. That means 50 people in one of the most expensive places to live in the United States are now unemployed.

According to City-Data.com, the Spotsylvania cost of living index is 125.8, meaning expenses are about 25.8 percent above the U.S. average. That’s a lot of rent assistance and Medicaid they will need (if we ever get the budget passed … but I digress).

Travis and Kelsey Rideout have said that the new gun laws that the governor signed earlier this year significantly influenced their decision to move.

Jim Wood, owner of Big Ridge Guns and Archery in Waynesboro, Virginia, as well as a city councilor there, told me, “States like Georgia are creating an economic plan that benefits the citizens of their state and making it appealing for businesses such as Remington, Heckler and Koch, Rideout Arsenal, Glock and Daniel Defense to make it their home base of operations. The states that lose these great companies due to their taxation, woke ideology and left-wing social activism are the driving force in the recent cultural migration increase.”

By the way, according to BestPlaces.com, the median home price in Fredericksburg is $399,200. In Thomasville, Georgia, it is $189,000. So in a way, the governor has made it more affordable—for the Rideouts and their employees who chose to leave with them.

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