"Berettas don't bluff." Beretta expands from anti-gun Maryland to Tennessee

When anti-gun Democrats in the state of Maryland exploited the Sandy Hook massacre as an excuse for even more draconian gun control, Beretta warned them that if the bill became law, they’d go out of state to a more friendly political climate for their planned U.S. expansion.

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They didn’t bluff:

“I want to thank the Beretta family for their substantial investment in Tennessee and the 300 jobs they’ll create in Sumner County,” Haslam said. “Beretta is one of the world’s great companies, and its commitment to excellence and Tennessee’s rich history in manufacturing make today’s announcement a great match as we continue toward our goal of becoming the No. 1 location in the Southeast for high-quality jobs.”

For much of the past year, Beretta has been scouting for locations for a manufacturing facility after the state of Maryland passed stricter gun legislation, company officials said. The family-owned, Italian company had expressed frustration about the new laws and said it might be looking for a new home for a factory currently located in Accokeek, Maryland.

While that factory will remain open, the company said it wanted to expand outside the state in the future.

Jeff Reh, general counsel for Beretta, said the company was looking a state that supported Second Amendment rights,and had other key attributes, including a competitive tax environment, good quality of life and was focused on corporate recruitment.

“From the moment when we started to consider a location outside of the state of Maryland for our manufacturing expansion, Governor Haslam and his economic development team did an excellent job demonstrating the benefits of doing business in Tennessee,” said Franco Gussalli Beretta, executive vice-president and a director of Beretta U.S.A. Corp. “We are convinced we could find no better place than Tennessee to establish our new manufacturing enterprise.”

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Don’t be too surprised if in years to come the Tennessee facility continues to expand, while the Maryland manufacturing facility remains static in size, or even shrinks and shuts down.

This is yet another self-inflicted wound by an anti-gun state government that is more intent on controlling their citizens than helping them prosper, and I suspect that Beretta is hardly the last gun company we’ll see leaving anti-gun states this year.

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