Beretta is still on our side

D

dZ

New member
got this on my MD alert list:

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>>I HAVE RECEIVED A RESPONSE FROM JEFF REH OF BERETTA, USA CONCERNING THE
>GOVERNOR'S $3 MILLION DOLLAR ATTEMPTED BRIBE, (FOR SMART GUN RESEARCH IF
>BERETTA DOES NOT OPPOSE THE BILL), REPORTED IN THE SUNPAPERS TODAY.
>
>Dear Sandy,
>
>"Thank you for asking for Beretta's position concerning the Governor's
>proposal to fund smart gun research. We were not contacted by any media
>before the story was released publicly, so we did not have an opportunity to
>comment.
>
>Beretta is ABSOLUTELY OPPOSED to any mandate which would require the
>implementation of internal locks in firearms. We have expressed this to the
>Governor and to Senator Mike Miller and we will testify accordingly when this
>issue is presented to the Maryland Legislature.
>
>Beretta has been evaluating internal locks for firearms for about ten years.
>We intend to continue these efforts and we do not oppose funding to support
>such research, provided funding DOES NOT INCLUDE A DEMAND FOR MANDATES.
>
>If you have any questions about our position, please do not hesitate to
>contact me. We look forward to working with you on this issue in Annapolis
>during the current session."
>
>Best Regards,
>
>Jeff Reh
>Beretta, USA
>
>
>PLEASE PASS THIS INFORMATION ALONG TO ANYONE WHO READS THE PRESS REPORTS
>ABOUT GLENDENING'S $3 MILLION DOLLAR BRIBE.
>
>TELL OUR PEOPLE THE TRUTH. BERETTA, USA HAS BEEN AND WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT
>GUN OWNERS AND SHOOTERS IN MARYLAND, THE USA AND AROUND THE WORLD. WE HAVE A
>STRONG SUPPORTER IN BERETTA, USA.
>[/quote]



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"walk softly and carry a big stick, one that goes bang in .308 is fine"
 
Time to pick up a good old dumb 92FS, I'd say. :)

------------------
"If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance."
-- Samuel Johnson
 
Smart gun technology is a Trojan Horse. The antis have never won a lawsuit based on a defective product when it comes to firearms. This is a way to legislate the defects into the weapons so the downstream lawsuits can, indeed, win on the "defect" allegation.

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Gun Control: The proposition that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own panty hose, is more acceptable than allowing that same woman to defend herself with a firearm.
 
I already have one Beretta U.S.A. product, and now it is time for another. I want a cougar, and so I will get one. I am loyal to those companies that are loyal to me. I have to say that my 96 is both more accurate and reliable than the Ruger models. I promise you will not be disappointed in a Beretta U.S.A. product.
 
from last weeks balmer sun:
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Gov. Parris Glendening will offer research grants of $3 million over three years to try to garner support in the legislature for his bill
that would require new handguns sold in Maryland to be equipped with built-in locking devices.

Glendening said Wednesday the first $1 million installment will be included in the budget he will submit to the legislature next week.

Critics have seized on the lack of reliable technology to try to defeat the bill, which would prohibit sales of new handguns unless they are equipped with devices
allowing them to be fired only by authorized users. Locking devices would save the lives of children by preventing accidental shootings and make it harder for
criminals to use stolen guns, the governor says.

Gun manufacturers will develop reliable technology if they are forced to do so by state or federal laws, Glendening said.

''It's sort of putting your money where your mouth is,'' said Michelle Byrnie, Glendening's press secretary. ''If we are going to require childproof guns, then we
should support that research effort.''

She said the money would be used to fund research in Maryland and that grants could go to private companies or educational institutions.

The governor said the grant will be contingent on the passage of his bill.

Glendening pointed out to reporters Wednesday that Beretta USA has a plant in the legislative district of Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller and Delegate
Joseph Valario, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, two lawmakers who will be influential in the battle over the smart gun bill.

''They are rightly concerned about the loss of jobs'' in their district, he said.

Glendening said his proposal would compliment federal aid that President Clinton has proposed to fund research into smart-gun technology.

The governor has not revealed details of his bill, but said it will reflect the thinking of a task force he set up to make recommendations on childproof guns.

That committee recommended that beginning in 2002, new guns would have to be equipped with mechanical locking devices built into the weapon. It found that
reliable locking systems already exist that will allow gun owners to use a simple code to unlock the trigger.

The committee recommended that by 2003, guns should be equipped with electronic systems if they are commercially available. Small companies have already
developed systems based on computer chips that recognize thumb and fingerprints or pick up a signal from a transmitter built into a ring or locket worn around the
neck.
 
Gun manufacturers will develop reliable technology if they are forced to do so by state or federal laws, Glendening said.

Gun manufacturers already *have* reliable technology, dammit!

(reaching for the Maalox...)



------------------
"If your determination is fixed, I do not counsel you to despair. Few things are impossible to diligence and skill. Great works are performed not by strength, but perseverance."
-- Samuel Johnson
 
Here, Coinneach, have some of mine (Maalox).
Tums are there on the table.

------------------
Either you believe in the Second Amendment or you don't.
Stick it to 'em! RKBA!
 
here is the balmer sun article that got this thread rolling:
Firearms research proposed
Funding complements `Smart-Guns' bill, would help Beretta; $3 million in budget;
Governor, lawmakers see fairness in aiding required technology

By Gady A. Epstein and Thomas W. Waldron
Sun Staff

Gov. Parris N. Glendening is proposing to spend $3 million over three years on gun
safety research in an attempt to win support for his child-proof guns legislation.

The funding proposal is likely to benefit Maryland's only handgun manufacturer,
Beretta USA Corp., which some legislators worry would be threatened by Glendening's
"Smart-Guns" bill.

That legislation would require all handguns sold in the state to be equipped with built-in
mechanical trigger locks and, eventually, a high-tech system to prevent anyone other than
the owner from using them.

Beretta would be eligible to receive the research money, which is earmarked for
developing Smart-Guns technology. Academics and other Maryland businesses could
also apply, but the governor and legislative leaders gave every indication yesterday that
the money is intended to soothe Beretta and the company's advocates in the legislature.

"If you're going to force the technology, it's only fair that you help pay for it,"
Glendening said.

The governor met with Beretta chief Ugo Gassalli-Beretta and Senate President Thomas
V. Mike Miller to discuss the funding idea around Thanksgiving, officials said.

"One of [Beretta's] two facilities just happens to be located in the district of the Senate's
president and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee's district," Glendening said with
a smile, referring to Miller and Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr., both of Prince George's
County. "They were very enthusiastic about [the research funding]."

Top legislators said that though the spending proposal may look like a gift to Beretta, it
seems appropriate.

"Sounds like Beretta money to me," said House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. "The idea
of taxpayer money going toward trying to improve this kind of fundamental safety
technology is a worthy use of tax dollars," he added.

Beretta officials could not be reached for comment yesterday. The company has said
that Smart-Guns technology is not practical and has raised money through a political
action committee to oppose supporters of the idea.

The company's State House lobbyist, John R. Stierhoff, said he was not familiar with the
governor's budget proposal.

The money would be spent only if Glendening's Smart-Guns bill wins passage. Taylor
and Miller said they expect it to pass in some form, despite tough opposition.

The idea behind Smart-Guns technology is that each handgun would be equipped so
that only the owner or another authorized user could fire it, perhaps through fingerprint
identification. Maryland would be the first state in the nation to require such technology,
which gun manufacturers say is years away from practical use.

No state in the nation requires hand-

guns to be sold with built-in trigger locks, though some require that removable locks be
sold with handguns.

The Governor's Task Force on Child-proof Guns recommended in November that all
handguns sold in the state have built-in trigger locks by 2002, and that they have
personalized safety locks by 2003 if the technology is commercially available. The task
force included a recommendation that state grants be considered "for anyone conducting
personalized gun research and development."

Glendening formed the task force in anticipation of making gun safety legislation a
centerpiece of his General Assembly agenda this year.

Handgun trigger locks have become a growing national issue in the past two years as
several cities have brought suits against gun manufacturers, in part for failing to install
locks that would prevent accidental or unauthorized firings.

President Clinton is expected to include $10 million for gun safety research in the
budget he will submit to Congress next month.

Miller and other legislators have expressed concern that if Smart-Guns technology were
required and Beretta didn't have it, the company could be hurt competitively.

"If it can be used in a positive manner by Beretta, and if Beretta agrees to this concept in
terms of research, I'm certainly in accord with the governor's proposal," Miller said.

Originally published on Jan 13 2000

------------------
"walk softly and carry a big stick, one that goes bang in .308 is fine"
 
DRAFT TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS MOVE FORWARD

(December 6, 1999) Glendening's Task Force on Childproof Guns has started the process of polishing its report and recommendations
for new gun controls in Maryland. At a working session today in Annapolis the group voted to advocate steps such as:

As of January 1, 2003, ban transfer of any handgun in Maryland that is not a "smart gun" having an active mechanism to authenticate
who is the user (e.g. fingerprint or retina scan.) The target date had been 2005, until Bonnie Kirkland, one of Glendening's political
goons and advisor, agitated for the earlier date, conspicuous by it being the first likely target for after 2002 elections (giving the
maximum time for voters to forget the effect before another election.)
As an interim measure, to serve until the 2003 ban goes into effect, the state will ban sale of handguns that do not have an integral
(mechanical) locking mechanism.
Ban commercial sale of any firearm to anyone who cannot demonstrate evidence of having taken a "firearms safety class" as
developed to standards set in the future by a police commission. According to discussion at the work session, this may be a class that
gun owner would need to repeat regularly in order to make future purchases ... or, if some members have their way in the final report, in
order to maintain possession of firearms.
Give tax credits for purchase of gun safes (but explicitly not for trigger locks) in order to allow the Governor to claim he gave the
firearms community something "we" wanted in the deal, even though the only proponent is the Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers
Association, aka NRA Board of Director Sandy Abrams.
Open juvenile records in order to ban sale of a handgun until at least age 30 to anyone who had committed crime as a minor.
Mandate that all firearms confiscated by police be destroyed, independent of value, lawful ownership or collectibility... unless of course
the firearm is desired for use by police.
Mandate "ballistic fingerprinting" before point of sale for all new handguns. This means you or the manufacturer would need to provide
both a bullet and case fired from the gun in order to be allowed to buy the gun. Those items would be sent to Maryland State Police in
order to be analyzed and placed in their computers to help crime forensics experts uniquely identify crime guns.
Mandate the collection of data and information about the "cost of gun violence in Maryland" presumably to be used for propaganda to
sell future gun control proposals.

Did the Task Force reject ANY recommendation put on the table? Just one: a proposal to reduce the fee for your background check and
registration when purchasing a handgun.
http://www.direct-action.org/Articles/tfrec.html

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"walk softly and carry a big stick, one that goes bang in .308 is fine"
 
It is my opinion that companies are driven by the bottom line and will say anything to protect their interests. All statements are suspect.

But I have a question. What is the relative worth of the gov't. handgun market (military, police, etc.) vs. the civilian? That will determine what they do.
 
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