On Sunday, the Remington Arms Company, LLC — more popularly known as “Remington” among gun sellers and buyers in the United States and throughout the world — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Although it may be tempting to connect the announcement to what happened the day before, when hundreds of thousands of people participated in “March For Our Lives” events in Washington D.C. and across the globe, the two instances have nothing in common aside from near-concurrence. For as Fortune noted in mid-February, the centuries-old company has been planning to file for bankruptcy for some time.
According to CNN, Sunday’s bankruptcy filing will give the company enough legroom to “stay in business while restructuring its massive debt.” Specifically, Remington’s plan is to “reduce its debt by $700 million through the Chapter 11 process and contribute $145 million to its subsidiaries.” What’s more, when the gun maker first announced its plans last month, it stressed that day-to-day operations — including the manufacturing and selling of weapons and ammo — “will not be disrupted by the restructuring process.”
Despite the lack of an immediate connection between the bankruptcy news and Saturday’s marches, however, the steady increase of mass shootings in the U.S. and subsequent calls for more gun control are related. One of Remington’s most popular products, the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle, was used in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre. As a result, the families of the victims sued the gun maker. Per CNN, the law firm representing the families said the company’s filing will not affect their case “in any material way.” Meanwhile, analysts combing through the filing records have found possible financial connections between Remington’s falling profits and money spent on legal assistance and settlements.