GALLATIN, Tenn. (AP) — Gov. Bill Haslam and U.S. Sen. Bob Corker are scheduled to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony for gunmaker Beretta's new manufacturing and research facility in suburban Nashville.
Tennessee prevailed in luring the Italian gunmaker from Maryland after the company raised objections to a wide-ranging gun control measure enacted there in the aftermath of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings that left 26 dead in Connecticut.
Beretta officials cited strong Second Amendment support in Tennessee in the decision to invest in the state.
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley last year chided Haslam for resorting to what he called "corporate welfare" to bring Beretta to Tennessee.
Beretta has operated in Italy since 1526. The family-owned company makes a variety of firearms, ranging from hunting shotguns to the U.S. Armed Forces M-9 pistol.