All, or nearly all, of the 142 members were present at the gala dinner celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Consorzio Armaioli Italiani (ConArmI). In the early 1960s, when most of the current member companies were founded (some even earlier), ArtArm-Artigiani Armaioli (Artigiani Armaioli) was founded with the specific aim of uniting the sector's artisans to compete in the foreign market, particularly the Greek one. In 1970, the Val Trompia artisan gunsmiths established a more operational and structured structure by founding the Comunità Artigiani Armaioli (Community of Armorers). On March 8, 1975, this was transformed into the Consorzio Armaioli Bresciani (Consortium of Brescian Armors), because just over a month later, Law 110 on gun control would be passed and a united front was needed. Thirty-one founding members of the Brescian Gunsmiths' Consortium, which later became ConArmI in 2010, now open to manufacturers of weapons and gun accessories, gun shops, service companies, and related businesses in the Brescia area, but throughout Italy.
The "Happy Birthday Conarmi" was greeted with initially timid applause. Then all the guests realized the significance of what they and their Consortium have accomplished in fifty years. The high-caliber guests who attended included the Prefect of Brescia, Andrea Polichetti, the Police Commissioner, Paolo Sartori, and the President of the Brescia Chamber of Commerce, Roberto Saccone.
Some of the guests also wanted to express their testimony, such as Giuliano Brunori, mayor of Gardone Val Trompia (Brescia): «The arms sector would not have resisted all the shocks it has experienced in recent years, if it had not been for Conarmi, a tireless spokesperson for the sector's problems to institutional decision makers.».
Emanuele Ricifari, General Director of Public Safety, for eleven years at the Brescia police headquarters: I have to thank the Consortium for providing me with in-depth knowledge of the subject. The Sigma project for the management and movement of weapons is a strategic and extraordinary initiative, born in Brescia from the collaboration between ConArmI and the police headquarters, with the ministry and the university. I hope it will be extended to all police headquarters and prefectures in the area.. And then Carlo Ferlito, CEO and General Manager of the Pietro Beretta Arms Factory who underlined the importance of synergistic collaboration between companies in the sector, for which ConArmI is crucial.
The beautiful 392-page volume entitled “Consorzio armaioli italiani: storia di artigiani che scrivi il futuro” contains documents and photographs of the association's history, told by Patrizio Ferraglio, journalist and contributor to local newspapers, who has always been close to ConArmI. "I've tried to keep track of fifty years of work, sacrifice, insight, but above all, of people. Collecting all the important documents, with the help of Monica Cancarini and Greta Rambaldini, I've traced the social context of each step. I've witnessed, even through the documents, the sometimes bitter confrontations among the members, but what emerges is the sense of community, of belonging, which is never lacking among these artisans who have evolved over time."
The volume is a powerful testimony, unmissable not only for those directly involved, but also for those interested in history and associations. But the final speech by Pierangelo Pedersoli, president since 1988, who has experienced and directly guided most of ConArmI's fifty years. He recalled his predecessors Diamante Zubani, Mario Beschi, Angelo Grazioli, mayor and a staunch political advocate for the sector; Enrico Chillè, with whom EXA and the first adventurous participations in international trade fairs were founded; and Carlo Peroni, president of the National Association of Sporting and Civilian Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers (founded in 1980) and colleague on the Central Advisory Commission at the Ministry of the Interior. "Their contribution is alive in the history and strategy of the Consortium.", explained Pedersoli.
He then thanked the members for the trust they had received. "A trust I've never taken for granted and which has been the true strength of the Association's work, allowing us to count on a cohesive community, capable of facing challenges and changes together." He then recounted the key moments of ConArmI's work. Training for companies, enthusiasts, and government agencies to undertake firearms-related activities and gain qualifications: on regulations, ballistics, telenarcosis, the recovery of injured wildlife, maintenance, restoration, and so on. Relationships with the Ministry of the Interior and its local branches, as well as other qualified institutions, trade associations, universities, and the Zanardelli and Beretta technical institutes, reviving the Arms Mechanical Industry Technician course—always with a technical, never ideological, spirit—and with the Gardone Technical Training Center (TSN) to reopen the 150-meter lines for pattern testing.
We have built a network of collaborations with ANPAM, Assoarmieri, and CNCN, jointly addressing the industry's challenges and contributing to its growth. We have contributed to regulatory development, the promotion of Italian products, presence at trade fairs, and internationalization. We have secured product liability insurance agreements and industry studies, ensuring our small and medium-sized companies have their own cluster, distinct from that of metalworkers, which has different management costs. We have secured changes to the ATECO codes, which finally distinguish military weapons from common weapons, with the hope that credit institutions will take note, perhaps by rewriting their policies. We have created tools like Sigma and the recent ConArmI services. We have created a highly qualified and unique teaching staff, now recognized nationally. We have become a point of reference for many. We have also worked to raise awareness of our business and our reality beyond the circle of enthusiasts, with the aim of building greater awareness and strengthening consensus for our sector. But perhaps the greatest achievement was another: building a community. Companies used to be more closed, more isolated. Today, collaboration, dialogue, and mutual respect exist. And this is the true strength that allows us to look to the future.Thinking about the future, Pedersoli then concluded: Today we celebrate an important milestone. But it's not a point of arrival. It's a foundation. A solid foundation on which to build the future, with the same spirit of those who, in 1975, had the courage to begin. And perhaps this is the true legacy of these fifty years: I believe the bond we have created through collective effort, built on trust, collaboration, and a sense of belonging, is fundamental, and we hope that this spirit of collaboration can continue to be one of the pillars of ConArmI's action both nationally and internationally, also in collaboration with other associations. On the other hand, the future holds complex challenges that the sector can only face by joining forces. With the simple yet profound hope that, together, we have achieved something truly worthwhile, we entrust to those who come after us the task of developing what we believe to be our true heritage.
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