Beretta avoids West Virginia because of Manchin
West Virginia legislators tried to woo Beretta away from their facilities in Maryland when that state doubled down on their laws that would make many of the weapons that Beretta manufactures illegal there. But, company officials say that because Joe Manchin, the junior Senator from West Virginia is so adamant about gun control proposals, they won’t be moving to West Virginia;
[Jeffrey Reh, a Beretta USA executive] said the company decided to rule West Virginia out of any potential expansion because of Manchin’s bill and the fact that he worked on it with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., whom he called one of the Senate’s most liberal members.
Manchin said Beretta USA is distorting his bill’s intent.
“I believe that my legislation, which an independent poll just showed that 75 percent of West Virginians agree with, is a reasonable approach that in no way infringes on our right to bear arms,” Manchin said in a written statement Friday. “It’s shameful that Beretta, who seems to have no intention of moving from one of the most gun restrictive states in the country, is deceiving the great people of West Virginia in attempting to score a political point.”
Since the intent of Manchin’s cooperation with Chuck Schumer is to lay the ground work for a national gun registry, and Manchin is actively hiding that fact from West Virginians, I doubt 75% of West Virginians support his bill.
Thanks to Concerned Citizen for the link to the Charleston Gazette.
Category: Gun Grabbing Fascists
Uummmm. . . WHO’S distorting??!! I doubt if it’s Beretta. Considering that Manchin is a member of Congress, and therefore a professional lier (is he also a member of the world’s second oldest profession, a lawyer?), AND working butt-in-groin with upChucky Shumer, well, I’d say the distortionist is the one proposing the bills and making the laws.
As for Beretta leaving Maryland and NOT coming to West Va, HOW ABOUT UTAH??!!
Oh, and Manchin, actions have consequences. The Immutable Law of Unintended Consequences rules above all other laws.
‘Fess up, you f**ked up.
Manchin is a duck and cover lying sack of shit. He knows what he has done and what he has supported. Now explain to your state, that needs jobs, why they won’t be getting a factory there.
Never trust a demo-rat. As for Beretta, hey, how about Florida?
Democrats are really communists and fascists trying to hide behind dead children killed by other Democrats. And once they disarm honest, law-abiding Americans, they’ll let the mask slip all the way to the floor.
Republicans are not going to theaters in Colorado, schools in Connecticut, marathons in Boston, or anywhere else with the idea of killing as many as they can. But Democrats are. And in fact, Trayvon Martin–whether he needed killing or not–was killed by a Democrat.
Frankly, I believe that all we need to do to stop gun violence is disarm the Democrats…
I have to call BS on this. The idea that Beretta USA would make any long term business decision about moving facilities to a different STATE based on what a FEDERAL politician proposed or advocates is ridiculous. If Beretta USA want to play politics, that’s one thing. It’s quite another to claim to make sound business decisions for your company based on misapplied understanding of what laws may be passed. I know that Beretta is privately held, so they do not have to answer directly to any stockholders. If they did, I suspect strongly the owners would have to answer to their board and stockholders. This is about stirring the pot, politically; not about ensuring sound business decisions.
Frosty – it’s probably not BS – why would Beretta move its operation, at what’s probably a Huge cost, to a state that is going to (potentially) restrict the sales/use of the product you manufacture?
If I were a company CEO in a similar situation – the political landscape would be a consideration taken into account before a move.
In case you missed it, the City of Baltimore is in the midst of a killing spree unseen in its history. The upturn started after the legislation passed new gun laws.
Everyone is talking about the causes but one thing that is never mentioned is the guns that criminals have while trying to disarm honest citizens.
@6. Frosty, maybe Beretta just said, Fine, if you folks elect someone like Joe Manchin, we’ll just keep looking for a place to set up our factory, that isn’t in a state that elects people like Manchin, Toomey, Schumer, et al.
I do believe that Beretta is entitled to do that, at least for now. Who knows what Schumer-Manchin-Obama come up with next week.
Phoenix will welcome them with open arms. Literally.
1st Rule of Senate-Club: If Schumer’s for it, you best be against it.
Oklahoma City would welcome Beretta with open arms and a very supportive business environment.
#6 FrostyCWO: major corporations make decisions based upon local politics and politicians. The Obama-Schumer-Manchin krewe is about to go medieval on West Virginia’s coal industry, and to make up for the inevitable loss in tax receipts, Beretta will get bent over a barrel and raped for revenue.
I suspect all the gun makers will be moving to Arizona …
Beretta is not moving it’s manufacturing from Maryland- the Accokeek plant will remain here in MD. However, planned expansions and new product lines will occur in a more gun-friendly state, most likely across the Potomac in VA. Thanks, O’Malley, you insufferable POS.
Beretta is not moving it’s manufacturing from Maryland- the Accokeek plant will remain here. However, planned expansions and new product lines will occur in a more gun-friendly state, most likely across the Potomac in VA. Thanks, O’Malley, you insufferable POS.
@7, @9,
I am saying that the federal government is not going to regulate INTRAstate commerce. Beretta is entitled to move their factory wherever they want. I just don’t agree with the idea that they won’t move to WV based on what a US Senator might or might not do in the Senate. If Manchin was still governor, that would be a different story.
@11, Regarding the coal thing, I sympathize that WV is getting the big shaft-ola regarding the shift from coal in the energy industry. I sympathize with WV like I sympathize with the 3rd generation autoworker and the 5th generation blacksmith when their industries went through upheavals or just plain died. I disagree that the coal issue is more than tangentially tide to any particular administration. Natural gas burns cleaner and has fallen in price over 30% in the last 5 years. It’s also a hell of a lot easier to get out of the ground. We are seriously considering exporting it we have so much. One of the reasons that Charleston has their new technology research district is because some forward thinking politicians at the municipal and state level saw the writing on the wall a few years ago and decided to diversify, Manchin among them.
@15. The federal government has been regulating INTRAstate commerce for many decades. It does so under the guise of INTERstate commerce. As for Manchin, Beretta is free to say what it wishes regarding him and the reasons WV is not a state to which it would relocate. You certainly don’t have to believe the company but it sounds credible to me.
Any company that strives to survive is looking years ahead. The future in any democrat stronghold is not healthy for any business other than monkey business. The way we’re going the map of the USA could look a lot different in years to come. Head west or south.
Frosty, Para-Ordinance left Canada because of their firearms laws. Citing that if their employees could not buy and keep their products then they are gone. Also is Magpul talking about leaving Co. because of their newly passed anti-gun laws. Yes, Oklahoma especially my small town would welcome them. PS we are very pro-gun and hunting. Joe
@11. VA is the most likely candidate to win the Beretta USA sweepstakes. Beretta already has storage facilities in the Old Dominion.
I also live in OK and I send a daily letter to Magpul touting the advantages of re-locating from CO to here, though the smart money is on Wyoming and Utah.
@11 and 20. Did y’all get any damage from the recent tornadoes? I’m in SW OK and we didn’t get anything, thankfully.
I would bet that Beretta will go to South Carolina. Many gun operators from the East Coast liberal dens of inequity go there because of a strong pro gun culture.
WV is a beautiful state, but they supported ovomit while knowing that he would be closing down their coal mines. Manchin is an idiot but he was elected to office by the people of WV. That act in itself states that the people are not as pro gun and pro business as they may let on to be.
Lebben, I close to Ft. Smith, no problems here. Joe
In addition to Beretta USA leaving MD, Land Warfare Resources International (LWRCi) is also packing up and leaving the state for friendlier climes.
Rick Perry and the Great State of Texas has already sent out invitations to Beretta USA and others, including MAGPUL, which is moving (has moved?) to Utah.
Berretta USA is going about it the right way. Listening to any politician in today’s anti-gun climate environment is bad business for any arms manufacturer, or gun owner for that matter.
It seems to me that if someone doesn’t want to do business in your neighborhood because of a political position you take, telling them that 75% of your neighbors agree with you on that position isn’t the best way to change your mind. Manchin obviously knows that he lost big on this one and this statement is just an early campaign press release trying to convince the low information voters that make up the democrat base that he’s in no way responsible for their pain.
Manchin’s idiocy aside, why would a gun manufacturer want to expand into a state where a teenager can be arrested for wearing an NRA shirt?
@15 – Yes, actually, passing a law saying that I can’t walk down the hall and sell my seldom used deer rifle to my son without the federal government’s approval would be regulating intrastate commerce. And yes, Manchin et al attemted exactly that. The only question now is whether you’re lying to push a political agenda or simply illiterate.
Left/liberal politicians are bad for business. Period.