A Miami-based firearms manufacturer is seeking $369,000 in incentives to expand as other locales try to woo it and its promised 258 jobs, the Miami Herald reports. Taurus USA employs 135 workers and says it will add 123 jobs in an expansion that has drawn incentive offers from beyond Florida’s borders, said President Bob Morrison, who cited Georgia’s courtship. “The [Georgia] governor sent his plane down for us and then took us on a helicopter tour for three days,” Morrison said. “From free land to new buildings to tax abatements for 25 years, there were lots of opportunities to do better in that state than we could here.”
The expansion plans come amid a heyday for firearms manufacturers, who have seen background checks for new weapons — an indicator of actual sales — shoot up 24.5 percent in the first half of 2009, says the FBI. Morrison said his company’s sales have risen rapidly over the past five years — jumping as much as 25 to 35 percent annually.