Amid declining sales, gunmaker Remington prepares for bankruptcy

Despite years of boom times selling its wares to a nation eager to buy guns after mass shootings, one of the largest weapons manufacturers is planning to file for bankruptcy.

Remington announced Monday that it had secured a deal with its creditors to continue operations as it goes through Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings.

"Difficult industry conditions make today's agreement prudent. I am confident this regrouping ensures that Remington will continue as both a strong company and an indelible part of our national heritage," Executive Chairman Jim Geisler said in a statement.

The company, based in North Carolina with a large factory in Ilion, New York, will receive a cash injection of around $145 million, and said the deal will reduce its debt by around $700 million.

Its decline comes as it has suffered slumping sales along with other major manufacturers such as Smith & Wesson and Ruger.

Sales and stock prices surged during the Obama administration, with repeated mass shootings perversely leading to more weapons purchases after fears that the carnage would lead to regulations on Americans? ability to wield high powered weapons of war.

That bubble has since popped after the election of President Trump, with little likelihood of passing gun control through a Republican-controlled Congress and White House.

Remington was also sued by the loved ones of those killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre, who alleged that the company was responsible for the shooting because of the way it marketed its Bushmaster AR-15 assault rifle.

The lawsuit was dismissed in October 2016, as a Connecticut judge said that the company had immunity under a law passed in 2005, though the families are currently on appeal at the Connecticut Supreme Court.