Firearms manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co. said its corporate headquarters moved from Connecticut to North Carolina at the start of this year, while the company also recently carried out roughly 100 manufacturing-related layoffs as part of a broader restructuring effort.
A company spokesperson confirmed to the Hartford Business Journal that Mayodan, North Carolina, became Ruger’s corporate headquarters on Jan. 1. The company had not broadly publicized the headquarters move, though recent press releases carried a North Carolina dateline, signaling the shift in its corporate base.
Ruger — which makes rifles, pistols and revolvers — still maintains an office in its longtime home in the Southport section of Fairfield, but employs only about 20 people locally, primarily in finance, accounting and some legal functions, the spokesperson said.
Separately, Ruger disclosed additional details to HBJ about a “reduction-in-force” the company referenced in its first-quarter earnings release this week.
The spokesperson said Ruger eliminated approximately 100 positions in February — primarily in manufacturing operations — as part of a broader restructuring effort aimed at reducing costs and improving efficiency.
None of the layoffs affected Connecticut workers, the spokesperson said. Besides North Carolina, Ruger has operations in New Hampshire, Arizona, Kentucky and Missouri.
The restructuring comes during a period of broader change at the company. Earlier this week, Ruger announced a cooperation agreement with major shareholder Beretta Holding, ending a dispute over ownership, board representation and company strategy.
A brief history
Ruger is the latest gunmaker to shift its headquarters out of Connecticut. In 2019, New Britain-based Stag Arms moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming, while Bristol-based PTR Industries announced in 2013 it would relocate operations to South Carolina.
Other firearms companies still maintaining operations in Connecticut include Mossberg in North Haven, Colt’s Manufacturing Co. in West Hartford and Shelton-based Charter Arms, among others.
According to Connecticut Mills, a website that documents historic Connecticut properties and businesses, Sturm, Ruger & Co. was founded in the Southport section of Fairfield in 1949 by William B. Ruger and Alexander McCormick Sturm. The company initially operated out of a small machine shop on Station Street in Southport, where it developed its first firearm, the Ruger Standard pistol.
Strong demand for the pistol eventually led Ruger to build a larger manufacturing plant in Southport in 1958. The company later expanded operations to other states and grew into a major U.S. firearms manufacturer, according to Connecticut Mills.
Ruger has long been associated with Connecticut, even though it stopped manufacturing in the state decades ago.
Historically, Southport served as Ruger’s corporate headquarters, housing executive leadership and administrative functions including finance, accounting, legal and some sales operations, the company said.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, some of those functions have shifted elsewhere or become remote, according to the spokesperson.
The headquarters relocation also came less than two months after Connecticut Attorney General William Tong warned Ruger about alleged safety risks tied to one of its pistol models and raised the possibility of legal action under the state’s firearms industry responsibility law.
