America's Oldest Gun Manufacturer Just Filed for Bankruptcy

It’s been a big weekend for gun news. On Saturday, students led one of the largest anti-gun protests in the nation’s history. And on Sunday night, Remington, America’s oldest gun manufacturer, filed for bankruptcy in light of dwindling sales and lawsuits over the Sandy Hook massacre.

The company, which was founded in 1816, will still be able to manufacture and sell guns and pretty much carry on with business as usual while it restructures to reduce its debt by $700 million. Another essential component of the bankruptcy is that it puts an immediate stay on lawsuits against the company.

Remington gained notoriety when Adam Lanza used its product, the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle, to carry out the Sandy Hook massacre. The company is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with families of Sandy Hook victims who are alleging Remington “knowingly marketed and sold the AR-15 to a particularly vulnerable group of young men,” as CNN reported in November of 2016.

According to the law firm representing the Sandy Hook families, the bankruptcy will not affect their case in “in any material way.”

Remington is owned by New York-based private investment firm Cerberus Capital Management. Their investment portfolio also includes Albertsons, as in the grocers, and Avon, as in Avon ladies.