And it’s true. PTR Industries announced that it’s packing up and moving to South Carolina, the company confirmed with Guns.com this morning. It’s the first of all the Connecticut gun makers to do so.
The formal announcement will be made at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday at 2:30 p.m. at an industrial building in Aynor, PTR Vice President John McNamara said and added that “the entire company will be relocating.”

PTR Industries is made up of about 140 employees, all of whom will relocate over a three-year period, Josh Fiorini, PTR Industries CEO, told The Sun News.  The rural town of Aynor is about 30 northwest of Myrtle Beach and, according to the town’s website, has a population of about 600 people.

While details are scarce, McNamara said they’ll disclose more information on what prompted them to choose South Carolina over a handful of other states, namely Texas and New Hampshire, as their final decision.

The company announced in April that they would move due to Connecticut lawmakers passage some of the toughest gun laws in the country as a response to the shooting at Sandy Hook. The new measures would heavily restrict PTR Industries key product, which is essentially a high end reproduction of Heckler & Koch’s G3 rifle and uses magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds.

During the announcement ceremony South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, U.S. Rep. Tom Rice (R-Myrtle Beach), much of Horry County’s legislative delegation and County Council members are expected to be in attendance.
Earlier this week, company execs met with Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has been on a mission to persuade gun companies to relocate to the Lone Star State since the beginning of May.
“While we weren’t on the fence about it, we did want to see what our options were,” McNamara said. And added that they made the final decision yesterday afternoon.

Just before midnight, a testy council approved the proposed $59.4 million general fund county budget for fiscal year 2013-2014 Tuesday night, with a notebook full of changes from going through the document with a near line-by-line strainer. One unanswered question was how the majority of council arrived at the meeting either unware or unprepared to pass the final reading of the budget. Few expressed sastifaction with the document. As the night wore on, pettiness often trumphed common sense.

Despite lines being more and more clearly drawn as the night wore on, in the end a budget was passed which includes a one-mil tax break for citizens of the county and rate hikes for sewer and solid waste for most of the county.

Beginning July 1, almost 4,100 homeowners in Anderson County will be paying an extra $15 per month for sewer as part of the sewer and solid waste fee structures approved by a  6-1 vote by Anderson County Council Tuesday night, with Councilman Eddie Moore opposing the proposal.

Businesses in the county will pay an additional $15 per residential equivalent unit in sewer fees, which is a 400 gallons per day capacity. According to county records, the increase will cost the average fast food restaurant in the county an additional $45 per month and the average grocery store an extra $450 per month in sewer and solid waste fees.

““Our current sewer fund bleeds $2.7 million per year,” said Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns. “This is an attempt to make it more solvent.”

Burns said the new fees will bring in the $2.7 million Anderson County is currently losing each year.

Solid waste fees were also increased by $4.35 annually, bringing the residential rate to $69.38 per year and the commercial rate $80.19 per year. The solid waste rate increase is the first since 2010. The increased solid waste charges do not impact those under homestead exemption, who pay $40 per year.

Council had previously approved millage increase of 3.2 mils, 2.8 mils for emergency services and .5 mils for Tri-County Technical College. The increase represents a total of approximately $13.43 for the owner of $100,000 house in Anderson County.

Frustration were obvious as Council Vice Chair Cindy Wilson suggested tabling the budget to get more details as the clock passed 11 p.m. "We don't know what the numbers are we are voting on tonight," Wilson said.

"We put it off to the last meeting in June to vote on the final budget and we are still talking about tabling stuff," said Councilwoman Gracie Floyd. "All we have to do is vote, yes or no. We don't need to table this thing. You should have realized tonight was the third reading."

At this point Councilman Tommy Dunn proposed the one-mil tax break, which met with some opposition before being approved by a vote of 5-2.

Floyd then proposed an across-the-board pay increase for all county employees. Employees making less than $50,000 would receive a one time $500 raise. "This is the time to do something for our employees. It's not much," Floyd said. "But it is better than nothing."

Council Chairman Francis Crowder proposed an amendment, approved 6-1, to allocate $197,330 of the contingency funds for possible 13.5 percent increase in health care (which will be decided by the S.C. Legislature in August. The total increase could be 6.8 percent). Crowder also proposed that any remaining funds be added to the contingency line item fund.

Council had previously approved millage increase of 3.2 mils, 2.8 mils for emergency services and .5 mils for Tri-County Technical College. The increase represents a total of approximately $13.43 for the owner of $100,000 house in Anderson County.

Council spent more than five hours wading through a list of minor, and often confusing, tweaks and other changes to the budget, plus additional amendments to be made before voting on the third reading of the county's 2013-2014 budget.

Votes for the proposals which were not unanimous were approved 4-3, with Crowder, Wilson and Moore generally voting against changes and the remainder of council voting in favor of amendments and changes. This 4-3 splite was evident to the end with Allen, Dunn, Floyd and Waters casting the deciding votes to approve the budget.

Floyd also asked for an increase of $3,000 for the Calvary Home for Children, bringing the total appropriations to $10,000. The earlier recommendation had been to increase the appropriation from $5,000 to $7,000. Floyd suggested taking the the funds from contingencies or by decreasing funding for the animal shelter. The amendment was defeated 5-2. Wilson opposed to proposal but promised money from her recreation fund later for the Calvary Home. Crowder also opposed, but he promised funds later from his recreation account.

Council cut the Anderson County Arts Center budget from $5,000 to $2,840, by a vote of 6-1, with Councilwoman Gracie Floyd opposed.

Council also argued over a proposal by Crowder defunding Celebrate Anderson and distributing the money evenly among the districts to have their own smaller events. The motion was defeated 4-3. 

Crowder also proposed a successful proposal cutting $100,000 from the county's grants and special projects department, essentially gutting the department of two people. Wilson said she had been trying to eliminate the department for seven years. Burns said an employee would definitely be loat from the cuts. Neither Crowder or Wilson gave reasons for wanting to defund the department, which sources who asked not to be identified said was getting rid of county employees who were very valuable.

After the budget vote, Crowder ask Anderson County Attorney Mike Pitts if he had to sign the budget ordinance and, if so, could he write opposed beside his signature. 

In his final remarks, Councilman Eddie Moore chided those who voted for the budget and suggested they "run as Democrats" in the next election.

Adjutant General Robert Livingston announced Kim Stenson's promotion Tuesday. The Emergency Management Division oversees and coordinates disaster response operations throughout the state.

Stenson has served as the agency's interim head since February when former director George McKinney stepped down.

Livingston says Stenson is a retired Army officer who has been instrumental in the state's emergency response activities for hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms and wildfires over the past 15 years. The agency is part of the South Carolina Military Department, which Livingston leads.

While the regular session ended back on June 6^th, lawmakers passed a bill to extend the session and are set to reconvene today.

The House and Senate had major differences on how to spend the $6.6 billion they're responsible for, specifically when it comes to education funding, pay raises for state employees and state infrastructure.

As of Monday afternoon, lawmakers were closer to reaching an agreement that would bond $50 million for state roads and highways and ultimately allow them to borrow more than half a billion dollars for infrastructure improvement projects over time.

"I think the House will go along with our proposal on roads," said Senator Joel Lourie (D- District 22).  "That's a big issue in South Carolina in terms of economic development, in terms of quality of life and last but probably first, public safety. We've got this huge infrastructure crisis facing us, and it's incumbent on us to look at this on an annual basis."

The proposal is a sub-section of the overall budget bill and Senate President John Courson says it must pass the House and Senate by a two-thirds vote.

The extended session will last until Thursday at 5pm, and lawmakers say they're hoping to send a final budget bill to the governor before then.  

"If one looks at government overall, education and protecting our citizens are the two key responsibilities of state government," said Senate President John Courson (R-District 20). "We're also increasing funding for the Highway Patrol, as well as, for SLED (State Law Enforcement Division)."