Remington files for bankruptcy as gun sales slow

Remington Outdoor, one of the oldest firearm manufacturers in the United States, filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday amid mounting debt and declining sales.

Remington had said last month it was nearing a bankruptcy filing, which it made on Sunday in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. In its Chapter 11 filing, the gun-maker said it had between $100 million and $500 million in debt and would continue to operate while under bankruptcy protection. It estimated that its assets were between $100 million and $500 million.

Remington, which was founded in upstate New York in 1816 but is now based in North Carolina, was acquired in 2007 by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management for $118 million. The firm rolled it up with other gun manufacturers, including the maker of the Bushmaster rifle, into a conglomerate called Freedom Group.

Under Cerberus, Remington’s sales initially boomed as total gun sales in the United States grew. In 2012, nearly 8.6 million guns were made in the United States, up from about 3.3 million in 2002.

But Remington’s sales have slowed in recent years, notably after 20 children and six adults were killed in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Public outrage over the massacre zeroed in on Remington after the authorities reported that the gunman had used an AR-15-style rifle made by the company.

Families of the Sandy Hook victims have sued Remington, saying that the manufacturer of the military-style assault rifle used by the gunman bears some responsibility for the attack. After the Sandy Hook shooting, some investors divested from the company, and Remington borrowed heavily during that time, including to buy out investors who wanted to leave.

The company expected a bump in sales if Hillary Clinton had won the presidential election in 2016 because of her possible pursuit of gun control legislation. But in the first nine months of Donald Trump’s presidency, Remington’s sales were down 27.5 percent.

Last month, Remington announced that its lenders had agreed to cut its $948 million debt load by $700 million in exchange for an ownership stake in the company.