Maryland already had very strict gun laws even before it passed the Firearm Safety Act in 2013. However, with the passage of the new law that defined and then banned 45 assault weapons, put restrictions on the capacity of ammunition magazines, imposed a seven-day waiting period for gun purchases and mandated fingerprinting, the state is now considered to have some of the strictest gun laws in the nation. Maryland's prohibitive gun laws have not only affected gun owners but have also caused a very popular gun maker to leave the state.
As reported in
The Washington Post, gun maker Beretta U.S.A. Corp. is taking its manufacturing factory out of Maryland and moving it to Tennessee, this despite nearly four decades of manufacturing in Accokeek. According to the report, local resident Kelly Canavan said, "Some people considered the factory a good source of jobs."
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Beretta employed approximately 160 people in Maryland, and the company will move its entire production line to Gallatin, a city with a population of just over 32,000 in Tennessee. The gun maker anticipates opening its new facility by mid-2015 although it will continue to operate its administrative office in Maryland.
General manager for Beretta Jeff Cooper stated, “During the legislative session in Maryland that resulted in passage of the Firearm Safety Act of 2013, the version of the statute that passed the Maryland Senate would have prohibited Beretta U.S.A. from being able to manufacture, store, or even import into the state products that we sell to customers throughout the United States and around the world."
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Cooper also expressed that although the Maryland House of Delegates did make modifications to the Firearm Safety Act that alleviated some of Beretta's concerns, "the possibility that such restrictions might be reinstated in the future left the company "very worried about the wisdom of maintaining a firearm manufacturing factory in the state.”
Beretta is not the first gun maker to leave a state with restrictive gun laws.
Forbes compiled a large list of gun makers that have made similar changes including Colt, which expanded manufacturing in Florida due to restrictions in Connecticut; Ruger, which expanded in Arizona and moved its headquarters to Florida; and Magpul, which moved from Colorado to Wyoming and Texas.
Maryland's strict gun laws have caused the oldest gun manufacturing company in the world to take its company out of state. After Beretta broke ground on their new facility,
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said, "We believe that our brand as the state of Tennessee has taken on new luster because Beretta has chosen to locate here, and we are forever grateful." Meanwhile, Maryland's strict gun laws have cost the state at least 160 jobs and untold tax revenue.
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