Remington Outdoor Brands has filed for bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy filing allows Remington to stay in business and keep making guns while restructuring its massive debt. The company plans to reduce its debt by $620 million through the Chapter 11 process.
The company said, when it first announced its plan to file for bankruptcy in February, that operations “will not be disrupted by the restructuring process.”
Founded in 1816, Remington is “one of America’s oldest and largest manufacturers of firearms,” according to court filings. Remington is also one of the best-known gun makers in the world. It’s owned by Cerberus Capital Management, which plans to shed ownership once the bankruptcy is complete.
Hearings on the bankruptcy are scheduled to begin Tuesday in US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Remington is seeking to confirm its bankruptcy plan by May 3.
The company’s biggest creditors are Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and The Marlin Firearms Company Employees’ Pension Plan.
Remington is headquartered in Madison, North Carolina. It makes a variety of handguns, shotguns and rifles at its sprawling 19th-century factory in Ilion, N.Y. It has seven factories altogether, located in different states, and 2,700 employees.
Its products include the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle that was used in the 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The company has been sued by family members of the Sandy Hook victims.
An attorney from the law firm representing those family members said it does not expect the bankruptcy filing to affect its clients’ case “in any material way.”
The company also settled a class action lawsuit a few years ago regarding allegations of defective rifles.
The gun industry as a whole has suffered plunging sales and profits under the Trump administration, because consumers are no longer driven by fears of more restrictive gun control with a Republican in the White House who’s been endorsed by the National Rifle Association
American Outdoor Brands, which owns the brand Smith & Wesson, reported dismal earnings earlier this month as did Sturm Ruger in February, and they’ve laid off hundreds of workers.