
A glimpse at Gun Valley

The Colt factory in Hartford.
Photograph by Todd Heisler/New York Times/file
| April 12, 2013

Westfield’s Savage Arms, the century-old pioneer that had deteriorated to the point where it was mocked as “Salvage Arms” and left for dead, now can’t keep up with demand. Laurinda Pudlo (pictured) came to Savage about a year ago after having worked with toddlers at a day-care center. She finds this work less stressful.
photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

Before joining Savage Arms, Rich Goss Jr. managed a Dollar Tree store. He says his job now is “easier than dealing with complaining customers in retail.”
Photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, an outspoken member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, secured $600,000 in tax incentives for Smith & Wesson, a gun maker in his city.
photograph by Matthew Cavanaugh for the globe/file 2012
| April 12, 2013

In the Savage Arms plant, Bruce Moore uses a high-tech machine to turn the barrel of a gun.
photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

Shepherd Torres hand-straightens the barrel.
photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

Gail Smith assembles parts to make the bolt and firing mechanism.
photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

Guns at Savage Arms await repair.
photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

Carlos Flores works in the 100-yard test range.
photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

Savage Arms made and shipped more than 350,000 guns last year.
photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

Rudy Wargo began working at Savage Arms in 1965. He repairs misfit guns.
photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

Steel before it is drilled for specific calibers at Savage Arms.
photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

The Savage plant’s high-tech corridor, where guns take shape in CNC machines.
photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

William Barkyoumb, a 29-year-old former Marine, is in final assembly at Savage Arms, doing some of the most complicated work on the factory floor.
photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

Sandy Molloy works in subassembly, which involves lots of small parts to make bolt and firing mechanisms.
photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

Inez Otero also works in subassembly. She came to Savage 12 years ago after having worked at Walmart.
photograph by webb Chappell
| April 12, 2013

Anchored by Colt in Hartford and Smith & Wesson in Springfield, the Connecticut River Valley remains home to dozens of firearms manufacturers and suppliers. (Pictured: the Colt factory in Hartford.)
photograph by Todd Heisler/new york times/file
| April 12, 2013

Gun sales are soaring across the nation, with many manufacturers having posted record profits in 2012. (Pictured: the Colt factory)
phhotograph by Todd Heisler/new york times/file
| April 12, 2013

Although California and Texas are home to more gun-related jobs, Connecticut and Massachusetts rank fourth and fifth in total economic output from this industry, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the firearms trade association. (Pictured: the Colt factory)
photograph by Todd Heisler/new york times/file
| April 12, 2013

When it comes to average pay packages for those in the industry, Connecticut and Massachusetts occupy the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, at $71,123 and $65,386, boosted by all the executive salaries at those corporate headquarters. (Pictured: the Colt factory)
photograph by Todd Heisler/new york times/file
| April 12, 2013

Governor Deval Patrick, a prominent gun control advocate, pushed through $6 million in tax breaks in 2010 for Smith & Wesson (pictured) to move 225 jobs from New Hampshire to Springfield.
photograph by Lane turner/Globe Staff/file 2005
| April 12, 2013

In Springfield, where the unemployment rate tops 10 percent, Smith & Wesson is a success story. It has invested more than $80 million since 2009 to expand and modernize its sprawling plant there, according to vice president Liz Sharp, and plans to spend another $40 million in 2013.
photograph by Matthew Cavanaugh/globe file/2010
| April 12, 2013

It has employed multiple generations of the same families, and its Massachusetts full-time workforce has grown to nearly 1,300.
photograph by Matthew Cavanaugh/globe file/2010
| April 12, 2013

Even as sales soar, only about one-third of US households have guns, down from about half in the 1970s, according to the 2012 General Social Survey, produced by an independent research center at the University of Chicago.
photograph by JB REED/bloomberg news/file 2006
| April 12, 2013