ALERT – The Remington Outdoor Company, the maker of the Bushmaster AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle that was used to kill 20 children and 6 staff at Sandy Hook Elementary School, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection the day after the March for Our Lives, on March 25th, 2018.

Remington has now emerged from bankruptcy, thanks to hundreds of millions of dollars of new financing provided by several major banks.

As a result of the bankruptcy proceedings, some of the creditors, including JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Franklin Templeton Investments Corp., have now gained ownership of the Remington family of 13 gun companies.

Blood Money Banks

According to Reuters, a $193 million lending package funded by seven banks, provided critical financing to allow Remington to continue to operate and emerge from bankruptcy intact:

• Wells Fargo & Co
• Regions Financial Corporation
• Bank of America Corp *
• BB&T Corp
• Synovus Financial Corp
• Fifth Third Bancorp
• Deutsche Bank AG

* After facing strong public backlash, Bank of America has since sold its share of the loan to another investor.

Shame on These Banks

With all the recent attention around the Parkland, Santa Fe, and numerous other high school shootings, and especially with the Parkland students’ amazing March for Our Lives response, how shameful is it that the Remington creditor banks haven’t taken the initiative to speak out about how they are going to help bring change to the gun industry by setting gun safety preconditions for the sale of the Remington family of 13 gun companies that they now own?

Their silence gives the appearance that they would rather keep this story under the radar, quietly selling their portfolio of gun companies to the highest bidder, irrespective of that buyer’s position regarding gun and community safety.

This is far too important of a moment, and an opportunity, for us to allow this transaction to transpire without calling out the banks to accept the level of responsibility and leadership that these circumstances demand.

We have to teach these and all banks that IT IS NOT OKAY for them to profit off of the propagation of gun violence in our society.

Note: Bank of America, a recent Remington creditor, announced on April 10th that it “plans to stop lending to companies that make assault-style guns used for non-military purposes.” 

There was a strong public backlash against Bank of America when it was reported that they contributed $43 million to Remington’s bankruptcy rescue financing, but Bank of America has since reaffirmed their commitment, and sold its share of the bankruptcy loan.  This is encouraging progress in the right direction.

We now ask Bank of America to expand its Gun Safety Codes of Conduct beyond assault weapons, announce plans to transition all existing relationships, and announce their support of the position that Remington’s creditor/owners establish and announce Remington Outdoor Company’s new Gun Safety Codes of Conduct as a precondition for the sale of the company.

Note: This demand is in the vein of, “U.S. asset manager State Street Corp. said it plans to seek details from gunmakers on how they will support the ‘safe and responsible use of their products,’” adding to pressure on the industry after the Feb. 14 shooting that killed 17 people at a Florida high school.” 

State Street, which manages approximately $2.8 trillion USD in assets on behalf of investors worldwide, has taken the lead in showing that it is completely viable, and reasonable, to expect that investors/owners of firearm companies can and should incorporate Gun Safety policies.

Limited Time to Make a Huge Impact

The banks are eager to relinquish their ownership as soon as possible.

We may have a short amount of time to rally support for holding the banks accountable before they pocket their blood money from the sale of Remington.

This may be our best opportunity to revolutionize the gun industry.