Another Gun Maker Says "Ciao!" to Restrictive Laws

The exodus of firearms manufacturers from states that enact more restrictive gun-control laws is turning into a stampede. Beretta announced last week it was becoming the latest gun maker to expand beyond the borders of its home state following passage of tougher gun laws. Instead of building in Maryland, which adopted stiff new regulations last year, Beretta is putting up a new manufacturing and research facility in the Nashville, Tenn., suburb of Gallatin.
Although mass shootings like the one in Newtown grab headlines, firearm-related homicides remain a tiny portion of total deaths in the U.S. and have actually been on the decline for almost two decades, despite greater sales of guns.
The Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics reported last year that "firearm-related" homicides fell 39% between 1993 and 2011, and "nonfatal firearm-related violent victimization against persons aged 12 or older" dropped 70% over the same time period. Although the FBI's statistics only go back to 1999, the number of background checks the agency has performed for individuals wanting to buy a gun mushroomed from 9.1 million that year to more than 21.1 million last year.

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