Earlier this year, Taurus announced it was opening a new headquarters in Bainbridge, Georgia. Things move pretty slowly in business sometimes, so who knew when it was going to start building it. For the tiny city of Bainbridge, it was unlikely to be soon enough.

Believe me, I’ve spent some time in Bainbridge. It’s not exactly a suburb of Atlanta. I know it could use the jobs. Who couldn’t?

Luckily for Bainbridge, the groundbreaking has now taken place.

It’s a huge day for the city of Bainbridge as the city hosted its official groundbreaking of the new Taurus USA headquarters.

That’s the biggest of several new projects expected to bring jobs to the community.

Taurus USA, a manufacturer of small guns and pistols, is well known throughout the country and in other parts of the world, and they’re about to become even more popular in Decatur County.

Four months ago, Taurus announced that it would be moving its North American Headquarters from south Florida to Bainbridge, Georgia. Tuesday marks the official groundbreaking of the new site, even though construction has been underway for weeks.

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Once completed, the new headquarters will be more than 200,000 square feet, and create about 300 new jobs for the community, with the hope of keeping talent and skills local.

The hope for Bainbridge is to keep skill and talent local, rather than losing them to larger metro areas.

However, this now adds Taurus to the stable of gun companies calling Georgia home. Perhaps most famously, Glock’s U.S. headquarters is in Smyrna, Ga., but the state also has H&K in Columbus, Daniel Defense in Black Creek, and Honor Defense in Gainsville, to name a few. That’s quite a few companies in a state with a solid pro-gun reputation.

Frankly, that’s not surprising as many companies look to move from anti-gun states where lawmakers seek to make it more and more difficult for them to sell their products. At some point, you’re just not going to feel particularly welcome, so it makes sense to bug out for friendlier climates.

Georgia is just one of the states that have benefitted from this boon, however. American Rifleman noted this trend back in 2014 as many companies left anti-gun states and found a home among southern hospitality.

For Bainbridge, this is big, but it’s also important to note that when Taurus wanted to leave Miami, they didn’t look to California, New York, or Massachusetts. They stayed in the South where they didn’t have to worry about the state’s likely turning against them at the drop of a hat. It’s a win for everyone involved.

Well, except for the anti-gunners who live here in my beloved Georgia. Frankly, as far as I’m concerned, they can either deal with it or leave the state. I’m not going to cry either way.

Personally, I’m proud that so many companies like to call my part of the country home. If only we could make the rest of the nation more welcoming to the industry as a whole.