Gunmaker Remington files for bankruptcy for second time in two years

Gun manufacturer Remington Arms Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday after previously filing in 2018.

The Monday court filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama listed the company’s assets and liabilities as both being between $100 million and $500 million, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

When Remington filed for bankruptcy in May 2018, it did so amid flagging sales and difficulty meeting requirements imposed by its creditors, the newspaper reported.

Numerous manufacturers have taken a financial hit from restrictions on gun sales after school shootings, and Remington in particular has spent years embroiled in litigation with the families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in which the gunman used a Remington Bushmaster rifle. The lawsuit is set to go to trial in 2021.

Last November, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Remington’s appeal of a Connecticut Supreme Court decision allowing the lawsuit to go to trial.

“The regulation of advertising that threatens the public’s health, safety, and morals has long been considered a core exercise of the states’ police powers,” Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Richard Palmer wrote in the majority opinion in March of last year.

Remington had cited the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which protects firearms manufacturers from civil liability in state or federal courts except for violations of marketing laws. The plaintiffs had argued the company marketed the rifle as a weapon of war and ran afoul of such laws.

The filing comes even as demand for firearms has surged during the coronavirus pandemic, with a Fox Business analysis finding FBI background checks by buyers seeking licenses are at the highest level on record. Sales have remained strong even as they flag for other retail goods such as clothing and shoes, according to the network.