America's oldest gun manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to court papers filed in Delaware late Sunday.
The move by Remington Arms Co. and its parent, Remington Outdoors, comes amid slumping sales at the firm founded more than 200 years ago.
It also follows student-led rallies across the United States calling for stricter gun laws after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in February. Hundreds of thousands of people participated in "March for our lives" events on Saturday. An estimated 800,000 protesters took part in Washington, D.C.
Remington, based in North Carolina, has been making various handguns, rifles and shotguns since 1816. It is now majority-owned by Cerberus Capital Management, a private-equity group that intends to sell off the gun maker's assets once the bankruptcy process is complete.
Remington will continue to operate while it pursues Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, an action that allows ailing companies time to come up with a reorganization plan to stay afloat, and to pay off company creditors.
Stephen Jackson, Remington's chief financial officer, said in the filing that the company has seen a significant decline in revenue and sales over the last 12 months.
Remington's reputation took a hit in 2012 after it was confirmed that Adam Lanza used one of the company's Bushmaster XM15-E2S guns in the Connecticut massacre in which he killed his mother and 26 children and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Remington was cleared of any wrongdoing in the tragedy.
