From: https://www.dw.com/en/sig-sauer-to-shut ... a-53689378
Arms manufacturer SIG Sauer says it will close its German branch late this year, blaming German strictures on sports guns. Its thriving US armoury based in New Hampshire delivers arms to the US military.
Sig Sauer machine gun
SIG Sauer, long the target of disarmament campaigners in Germany, announced Thursday it intended by year's end to close its factory at Eckernförde near Kiel, capital of Germany's northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein.
It blamed "locational handicaps" hindering its diverse pistol and sports guns sales, claiming a "few other local producers" were preferred in government purchases for Germany's police forces and Bundeswehr military.
Public broadcaster NDR quoted manager Tim Castagne as saying the workers' council at the Eckernförde site, established in 1951, had been briefed about some 125 job losses as well plans to fulfil purchase orders.
"Due to its international orientation, SIG Sauer is systematically excluded from tenders [in Germany], said Castagne, intimating, said NDR, that most of its weapons were developed in the United States.
Origins in Switzerland
SIG Sauer, with interlinked ownerships, and origins going to 1864 in Switzerland, relocated within the USA in 1990, establishing at Newington, New Hampshire, an arms factory and "state-of-the-art" training academy, now with 1,200 employees.
SIG Sauer Inc.'s products include its P-series handguns for "the law enforcement market," rifles, including sports versions, and machine guns for the US military.
On Monday, its US branch said it was "proud" to announce delivery of lightweight "Next Generation" machine guns and "greater penetration" ammunition to the US Army.