Winchester Has Gone Out of Business. It was the company producing the gun that won the west. In the hands of actor John Wayne, the rifle itself became a Hollywood icon and symbol for American pride. Although Winchester may have helped win the west, the company lost the final battle of economics, political climate change, and waning hunter participation. Based on current talk it looks like the name will be sold and used on some foreign made riles and shotguns - another firearms manufacturer gone from U.S. soil and another victory for the anti-gun socialists.

Oliver Winchester bought New Haven arms in the middle part of the 19th century, and like the repeating rifle itself, the company exploded. More than 19,000 Winchester employees worked in New Haven during World War II.

“At its very height it employed 26,000 people,” says Yale professor Dr. Douglas Rae. “If you think about its history, which began really in New Haven in 1870, it accounts for the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of New Haveners over the generations.”

More recently Winchester became owned by a foreign company, demand for rifles declined, and the workforce dwindled below 200. Now, the last workers are being sent home and the doors closed.

The various factors leading to Winchester’s decline and closure are linked not only to the economy, but also to a decline in hunting participation and a more liberal political climate in the U.S. In 2005 only 80,000 guns were produced at the New Haven factory even though that facility has a capacity of 300,000 guns a year.

Liberals may celebrate the Winchester plant closing, but they haven’t reduced global firearms production. They have only succeeded in causing the United States to lose another industry to foreign competitors. Guns will go on, but they will just be made elsewhere and Americans will have to pay more for them. This includes all Americans. The taxpayer funds the military, which relies more on foreign weapons manufacturers than ever before.

I think the Duke just rolled over in his grave. Rest in peace Winchester.