Beretta’s future in Maryland tied to state’s gun-control debate
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.
Concern that the company will leave, and take its 300 jobs with it, is palpable among state lawmakers who worry it could be collateral damage from Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposed gun-control bill.
Other gun manufacturers are also pushing back against gun control; a number of major manufacturers have said
they will not sell guns and accessories that will be forbidden to civilians to law enforcement agencies:
Private firearms and ammunition manufacturers are teaming up with civilians against the Obama administration's continual pressure to erode Second Amendment rights. States that also pass restrictive gun laws are also being taken to task as arms suppliers are now refusing to sell to various agencies including law enforcement.
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