Beretta Guns Maryland

Since the Sandy Hook massacre many states have passed or are debating legislation for stricter gun control laws. Especially hard hit have been states in the northeast where many gun manufacturers reside. Those weapons manufacturers threaten to leave their current locations if stricter law is enacted continue to grow in number.

Beretta, like other prominent gun manufacturers, evidently intends to stand by its principles. Beretta promised that, if Maryland passed its strict post-Sandy Hook gun control laws, they would leave the state.

On Friday, Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed into law the state’s extensive gun control laws. The new laws, the stated purpose of which is to “save lives,” bans some “assault weapons”, limits magazine capacity to ten rounds, and requires mandatory fingerprinting for gun purchase.

For Beretta, the Governor’s signature signaled that it was time for Beretta manufacturing to relocate. The move isn’t just about the symbolism of the governmental erosion of Second Amendment rights. It is also occurring because the legislation would make illegal the company’s newly issued ARX 100, the civilian version of the ARX-160, a tactical rifle used in Italy.

The magazine size limit also places Beretta in a legal dilemma. Beretta would no longer be able to stock appropriate, standard capacity magazines for numerous guns in its product line including the 92A1 and the 96A1.

While Beretta hasn't yet announced where it will move to, it is plain it will find many states that will welcome it. States that are supportive of Second Amendment rights are courting weapons manufacturers being driven from the blue states. Most recently, Texas has made headlines for its open invitations, as have Arizona, and many southern states. Certainly Maryland will suffer repercussions from the move with the loss of 400 jobs as well as the loss of taxes. Beretta has paid Maryland $31 million in taxes over an unspecified number of years. In the face of its need to relocate, Beretta’s plans to expand its Maryland plant are now off the table, creating a further loss of taxes and more jobs in Maryland. Jeffrey Reh, Beretta's general counsel stated it best when he asked, "Why expand in a place where the people who built the gun couldn't buy it?"

The first prohibition proves definitely that Maryland is ignorant of the facts-or chooses to ignore them. If otherwise, Maryland would have paid attention to the fact that the Department of Justice has issued a report conceding that crime goes down when legal gun ownership goes up.

Based on the survey data from a 2000 study published in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, U. S. civilians use guns to defend themselves and others from crime at least 989,883 times each year.

According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, 467,321 persons were victims of a crime committed with a firearm in 2011. In the same year, FBI date shows that firearms were used in 68 percent of murders, 41 percent of robberies and 21 percent of aggravated assaults nationwide.

Gun related homicide is most prevalent among gangs during the commission of felony crimes. Those who would argue outlawing guns would disarm criminals are sorely ignorant of the facts. The sheer number of guns in the U. S. is prohibitive of disarmament; it would take decades to effectively do so. Furthermore, the failure to prevent illegal drugs from entering our borders show that illegal border activities, including the transport of illegal weapons across our borders, won’t be resolved anytime soon.