Bob CollinsBeretta, the world’s oldest gun manufacturer, opened its new factory in Tennessee today, making good on its vow to leave a state with tougher gun laws, underscoring that economic development increasingly depends on a state’s politics as well as its taxes.
Maryland joined several other states enacting restrictions on certain models of weapons following the massacre of kids at a Connecticut school. It banned several models of so-called assault weapons, making Beretta’s M9 semiautomatic pistol, which holds 15 rounds, illegal in the state.
On its Twitter page today, Beretta seemed to be practically “waving” to the people of Maryland.
The curtain is dropped and our #BerettaTN factory is officially open! pic.twitter.com/fsOHJbyofg
— BERETTA (@Beretta_USA) April 15, 2016
Team Beretta's Travis Mears entertains our guests at the #BerettaTN grand opening. pic.twitter.com/j6faIeuwTT
— BERETTA (@Beretta_USA) April 15, 2016
Putting Tennesseans to work: our Tennessee Campus is officially open for business! #BerettaTN pic.twitter.com/NL8mT2rpdd
— BERETTA (@Beretta_USA) April 15, 2016
Tennesse, where the unemployment rate is 6 percent, has been particularly aggressive when it comes to convincing companies to move operations.
Last year, Duluth-based Cirrus selected Tennessee for its customer center, which will employ 170 people. The company said the weather in Minnesota made it unsuitable for its customers to pick up their planes and take flights there.
As for Maryland and its crackdown on guns, its members of its Assembly tried to double down, pushing a bill that would ban the possession or carrying of firearms and knives on college campuses. In died in the final hours of its session earlier this week.
(h/t: Julia Schrenkler)
