
Remington Is Planning to File for Bankruptcy - williamstein
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-12/cerberus-s-remington-will-cede-control-to-lenders-in-bankruptcy
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jeffdavis
Part of the problem gun companies face is that guns are reliable -- very
reliable. Like "last 100 years" reliable. And guns are likely to be
maintained, stored properly, and not simply lost.

I think that's part of the reason for all the gear and "tactical" stuff and
expensive assault rifles... they tend to keep the revenue flowing.

And I also think that's why people who are against guns in general want
assault rifles banned -- they drive the success of the gun industry. If you
just go by the numbers, I don't see any justification for banning really any
kind of rifle (unless it's full auto or something)[1].

[1] Around 5% of murders and probably lower for accidents and suicides
[https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-
the-u.s.-...](https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2014/crime-in-
the-u.s.-2014/tables/expanded-homicide-
data/expanded_homicide_data_table_8_murder_victims_by_weapon_2010-2014.xls)

~~~
hprotagonist
Doing my best to walk on eggshells here.

>I think that's part of the reason for all the gear and "tactical" stuff and
expensive assault rifles... they tend to keep the revenue flowing.

Fear sells. In the case of ARs and the vast accessory market, it's been quite
lucrative since 2008 or so.

>And I also think that's why people who are against guns in general want
assault rifles banned

As people on both sides of this debate are bound to point out, "assault rifle"
doesn't mean much in terms of operating characteristics. It means a lot in
terms of marketability, though!

~~~
LyndsySimon
> As people on both sides of this debate are bound to point out, "assault
> rifle" doesn't mean much in terms of operating characteristics. It means a
> lot in terms of marketability, though!

I honestly don't recall the last time I saw a gun company market something as
an "assault _____".

Many pro-gun folks have been trying to get the term "Modern Sporting Rifle" to
stick. I find it kind of silly, myself. They're just "ARs" (for AR-15-pattern
rifles) or "AKs" (for AKM-pattern rifles).

~~~
nicolashahn
What are semi-automatic Mini-14s, M1As, Sig 556s, Steyr AUG, Bushmaster ACR,
etc. (the list is endless), then?

They're not "assault rifles" because that definition requires select-fire
capability.

It would be nice to have a catchall term that means "semi-automatic
detachable-magazine-fed rifle chambered in an intermediate cartridge" but is a
bit less of a mouthful, and doesn't have an inaccurate, negative, politically
charged connotation like "assault weapon" does.

~~~
Zak
Perhaps "modern sporting rifle"? That seems to be the term the gun industry
has settled on.

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FireForce
Remington Outdoors isn't filing for bankruptcy because of politics or because
guns last a long time, as others have suggested. They've been acquiring big-
name arms manufactures like Remington Arms, Bushmaster, and Marlin, then
throwing quality control out the window while they ride the reputations of
their subsidiaries into the ground.

~~~
LyndsySimon
Exactly. See the fiasco with the R51.

~~~
AmVess
I just read bout that...what an appalling effort, and they should have known
better. They have serious issues of a newly designed pistol cannot match a
$150 Makarov in terms of manufacturing quality.

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Animats
_" Half the guns in America are owned by only 3 percent of the adult
population, with an average of 17 firearms each."_

Interesting. So there are really two target markets - people who want one gun
for use, and people who are into guns as a hobby.

~~~
nicolashahn
This isn't really something that's specific to guns. Any hobby is going to end
up with statistics like this. If you take a sample of say, motorcyclists - you
might find that for 10 people who own exactly one, there's a collector who
owns 20 who skews the average strongly (and a few more who own 2-5).

Guns are cheaper (on average) than motorcycles, they last longer, have been
around longer, and tend to get passed down by generations (so one might find
themselves with their grandfather's collection of 20 guns, and then add
another 20 over their lifetime, then pass them along to their grandchild), so
the skew is going to be much stronger.

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LyndsySimon
Remington has been badly mismanaged for years - this isn't news to anyone in
the gun world.

~~~
nicolashahn
This needs to be closer to the top, no need to extrapolate further. Remington
has been outputting crap for years, this doesn't represent the gun industry as
a whole like some other commenters seem to be inferring.

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mirkules
The irony of it all - by electing a republican* president, the democrats have
a victory which would not have been possible if a democrat president took
office.

I wonder if this effect has a name and whether it can be applied to computer
security too? For instance, having a pro-encryption-backdoor president
inadvertently increasing security.

*republican in name only

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lykr0n
Guns are easy to make if you have the right tools. There will always be
someone making and selling; even if it is the local store down the road. This
will change nothing.

Arms sales are a big market. I think what happened here is that Remington took
a bet on the Civilian Market in the US and lost.

~~~
icelancer
>> Guns are easy to make if you have the right tools.

That's a bit much. Rifling barrels is not a trivial task.

~~~
jessaustin
It's more trivial now than it was when they did it in the 18th century...

