Beretta To Open New Manufacturing Facility Tomorrow

Beretta is set to open its brand new 160,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Gallatin, Tennessee tomorrow.

As CNN reports, Beretta decided to move from its Maryland location after the Old Line State passed restrictive gun control laws that would have hampered its business. While the state later revised the laws to ensure that the company could still legally manufacture firearms in Maryland, the die had been cast and Beretta was ready to make a move.

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“With the stroke of a pen our ability to manufacture products for the armed forces, or police, or even civilians, could be blocked,” Beretta lawyer Jeff Reh told CNN.

The company chose to establish the new $45 million factory in Tennessee because of that state’s looser gun laws. The Gallatin location was picked because of free land and a 10-year tax abatement worth over $2 million. In addition, the city is located roughly 20 miles from Nashville.

Administrative and executive offices in Accokeek, Maryland will still be maintained, Guns.com said, but all gun manufacturing will now take place in the new Tennessee location, which also includes an outdoor shooting range.

“We’ve got plenty of space to expand as well,” Gabriele de Plano, VP of defense marketing and operations, told CNN.