ALBANY — Gun manufacturer Remington Arms advised workers at its plant in Herkimer County on Wednesday that 122 employees are being laid off because of growing inventory and slow sales of its product.

The workers being idled are employed at the company’s plant in Ilion, just to the west of Richfield Springs in northern Otsego County.

In a statement, Remington said: “The small arms industry is facing significant near term challenges related to slowing order velocity and high channel inventories; a dynamic from which Remington is not immune.”

The company added: “After exploring all the options available to us, we are compelled to reduce our work force by releasing 122 team members today at our Ilion, NY site. As we move forward, we will continue to monitor all segments of the business for growth opportunities.”

Assemblyman Marc Butler, R Herkimer, said he was briefed on the layoffs by a Remington Arms executive after workers on the day shift were notified of the upcoming layoffs.

The layoff was lamented by John Scarano, director of the Herkimer Chamber of Commerce. He noted Remington Arms is one of the largest private employers in the Mohawk Valley.

Scarano said in an intervew that Remington has temporarily reduced its fleet of unionized workers many times in recent decades. “When they do, they always come back stronger, and we’re hoping all these jobs will come back to us,” Scarano said.

Concerns about the company’s continued presence in Herkimer County were raised in February 2014 when Remington accepted $66 million in business incentives to build a plant in Alabama.

That move came about a year after Gov. Andrew Cuomo pushed through a package of gun control measures known as the SAFE Act. It bans certain guns the state defines as assault weapons and created new registration renewal requirements for handgun owners.

Butler, one of the lawmakers who has steadfastly opposed the SAFE Act, said the guns banned by the statute include the Bushmaster AR-15, which is made at the Remington Arms plant in Ilion, though it cannot be legally sold in New York.

“Isn’t that a wonderful message to send to a company that just celebrated its 200th anniversary here in New York?” Butler asked sarcastically.

Butler said the Bushmaster was banned because it resembles a military-type assault rifle, though he contended that some rifles used by hunters are more lethal.

The Bushmaster AR-15 was the weapon used by Adam Lanza in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in December 2012. Lanza killed his mother before going to the school, where 20 children and six teachers were killed before Lanza killed himself as police were arriving at the scene.

Cuomo has maintained the SAFE Act has enhanced public safety in New York, though critics of the statute contend it has only burdened law-abiding gun owners.

Joe Mahoney covers the New York Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach him at jmahoney@cnhi.com