Gunmaker Remington Arms, which employs 1,000 people in the Herkimer County village of Ilion, NY is reportedly preparing to file bankruptcy for the second time since 2018 and may be bought by the Navajo Nation.
People familiar with the matter said Remington is in advanced talks for a potential bankruptcy sale to the Navajo Nation, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The nation’s oldest arms manufacturer could file for reorganization under Chapter 11 of U.S. Bankruptcy Law within days, with the Navajo Nation preparing to serve as the lead bidder to buy the company, the newspaper reported.
Remington, which is based in Madison, North Carolina, filed for Chapter 11 in March 2018. It emerged nearly two months later, having converted more than $775 million in debt into equity for its lenders.
But the company’s troubles, which began with Donald Trump’s election as president, persist. During Barack Obama’s administration, gun sales rose because of fears that the federal government would impose stricter gun controls under the Democratic president. Those fears eased once Trump, a Republican who repeatedly vows to protect “Second Amendment rights,” entered office, and gun sales have been falling ever since.
Remington also continues to face litigation over the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in which 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, include 20 children, with a Remington-made Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle in Newtown, Connecticut. The families of the victims filed a lawsuit against Remington in 2014, alleging the company’s marketing of the weapon inspired Lanza to commit the massacre.
In November 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Remington, which contended it should be shielded by a 2005 federal law preventing most lawsuits against firearms manufacturers when their products are used in crimes.
Remington was founded in Ilion in 1816 and remains a major employer in the village.
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