Until Virginia Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe (D) was elected on November 5, Beretta USA had the Old Dominion on a short list of states in which it could build a new factory.
The USA side of Beretta has been based in Maryland, but Governor Martin O’Malley’s (D) gun control push convinced them to move to a more gun-friendly climate.
According to The Washington Times, Beretta already “has a distribution center in Spotsylvania, VA,” so building the new factory in the state made sense–when Virginia had a pro-gun governor.
Beretta USA’s general counsel Jeff Reh said, “The anti-gun ads that McAuliffe ran in northern Virginia were particularly offensive. And the fact that he could gain a voting advantage by doing so caused us additional concern.”
Red added: “All this was a real disappointment because of the great pro-gun and pro-business response we received from the Commonwealth and local political and business leaders throughout our search process in [the state].”
Until McAuliffe was elected VA was “one of six finalist locations” being considered by Beretta executives.
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