Posted on 02/25/2013 1:28:39 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Earlier today, I linked to a Christian Science Monitor report that the firearms industry had begun to organize in opposition to the recent push for increased gun control, but that the major manufacturers had not yet committed themselves. That situation has changed, reports the Washington Post, at least in Maryland, where Beretta makes it home --- at least for now. The company has begun considering a relocation of its headquarters to a state where its product hasn't been made illegal, and may take hundreds of jobs with them:
Beretta, the nearly 500-year-old family-owned company that made one of James Bond’s firearms, has already invested more than $1 million in the machine and has planned to expand its plant further in Prince George’s County to ramp up production.
But under an assault-weapons ban that advanced late last week in the Maryland General Assembly, experts say the gun would be illegal in the state where it is produced.
Now Beretta is weighing whether the rifle line, and perhaps the company itself, should stay in a place increasingly hostile toward its products. Its iconic 9mm pistol — carried by every U.S. soldier and scores of police departments — would also be banned with its high capacity, 13-bullet magazine.
“Why expand in a place where the people who built the gun couldn’t buy it?” said Jeffrey Reh, general counsel for Beretta.
On the line: at least 300 jobs in Maryland’s Prince George County. That’s enough to worry even Governor Martin O’Malley’s Democratic allies in the state legislature. The Post’s Aaron Davis gets the president of the state Senate, Thomas Miller, to admit that he’s “concerned” about a possible move to “places a lot more friendly to the company than this state.” In the lower chamber, the Democrat representing the district, Del. Joseph Vallario, told the Post that “we want to keep those jobs.” Vallario’s chairing the chamber’s Judiciary Committee, so he has some influence on that outcome, but so far the bill doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
Beretta general counsel Jeffrey Reh reminded the legislature that Beretta once moved a significant facility to Virginia the last time the state tried this, and that the next time might be the last:
“I think they thought we were bluffing” in the 1990s, Reh said. “But Berettas don’t bluff.”
For obvious reasons, Beretta would like to stay put. Moving any kind of business costs money, and manufacturing more than most, and the disruption to production will be considerable. Given the history of hostility toward guns and gun manufacturing by the state’s political class, though, it might end up being costlier to stay than to leave. Reh told the Post that the Italian owner recently visited the facility, and when briefed on the law, told Reh, “There always seems to be a problem with Maryland.”
No company will put up with that forever, and few would stay in a state where most of their product line couldn’t be sold.
Well, they could cross the Potomoc, although Virginia seems to be turning bluer, which might force them to move again later on.
Well, in both the last Primary (August) and November, we replaced our RINOs in the kS House but more importantly, we replaced 8 out of the 9 KS RINO Senators, that and with electing Brownback as Governor, KS is on the move!
That’s good to hear because I’m actually hoping to move there soon.
I would buy a Tavor in a heartbeat!
Well, I guess it's one way to start the violent revolution...
I heard the small influx of displaced Katrina refugees has already caused big problems in Texas.
Do you really want to see what happens to a state with a “full house” of all of the above?
Look at Florida, south of Okeechobee...
Why not leave a one person office open in MD. No exit tax...
Would not be an issue if you hired nice conservative Texans...
Don’t threaten anything, just leave. Give your employees a little severance and then, Bye Bye. But leave a note, telling everyone why.
Move to Cheyenne, WY. Under three hours
drive to Denver airport. Highway 80 and rail goes through town.
Help employees relocate.
Well, the 'invasion' is strongly peppered with honest conservatives. I 'invaded' Texas from California myself, seven years ago. If there's gonna be a revolution here, it'll be the good kind.
Money quote: “There always seems to be a problem with Maryland.”
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
As a conservative, I hope to be invading Texas or some other red state some time in the future.
Better make it the near future, before real battle lines are drawn. The divisions between the left and right in this country are getting deeper by the day.
Screw anyone politician who thinks that he or she can dictate to the American people what they can or cannot use to defend themselves!!
In Indiana, football fields are merely a place to congregate, drink beer, and talk about the upcoming basketball season.
Okay. We’ll settle it on the court. Thunder vs whoever you got.
Well, until last night I figured the IU Hoosiers could beat about anybody. In a head to head matchup now, I would probably pick the Indianapolis School for the Blind.
Then Oklahoma ought to be advertising that fact to workforce centers, technical schools, career counselors, military outplacement and unemployment officials in Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Florida, etc., etc... I was a veterans career specialist in Iowa for 15 years and if I had somewhere to send my unemployed machinists I’d have jumped on it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
