Beretta store

The Italian gunmaker Beretta proposes to open a new boutique in the Shoppes at the Palazzo, come January. This has generated some outrage.

May we recommend a moment of contemplation.

The Beretta enterprise will offer $600 tweed brand-named sport coats, outerwear with fur collars at $1,500, and shotguns and rifles averaging $8,500 “out the door.”

Nevada residents wishing to purchase a handgun from the Beretta premises (don’t expect much for under $500) will face the same background check requirements that apply at any other federally licensed gun store – after passing which the buyer will be able to carry out the disassembled weapon in a locked case – without ammunition.

Out-of-state purchasers? The Beretta folks will ship the firearm to a federally licensed dealer in their home state, where a similar background check will be required before the buyer can take possession.

Las Vegas already has plenty of retail gun stores and indoor shooting ranges within walking distance of the Strip – selling less expensive handguns and “carry-it-with-you” ammunition than any upscale tourist is ever likely to find at the Beretta store. For that matter, Las Vegas already has a gun range and retail gun store at the Bass Pro Shops, adjacent to the Silverton Casino, at the Strip’s south end. No problems reported.

The Palazzo facility will be the 500-year-old Italian gunmaker’s seventh boutique – joining locations in London, Paris, Milan, New York, Dallas, and Buenos Aires. The fact that Las Vegas is now counted among such upscale markets for discretionary jet-set spending is the proper place to focus in this announcement.

Yes, some security precautions are wise for such a facility. Beretta proposes quite a few. But if Beretta has managed to operate firearms boutiques without problems in London and New York, where the right to keep and bear arms is not exactly celebrated with abandon, the notion that they could have problems in Nevada seems a little silly.

The threat here to the public health and safety seems minimal. Unless you’re allergic to that fur collar.