Stag Arms raid
Federal investigators serving a search warrant back in September seized documents and rifle parts from Stag Arms as part of an ongoing investigation into possible illegal activity at the New Britain, CT gunmaker, after a routine inspection of Stag Arm’s facilities uncovered a “large cache” of AR-15 lower receivers without serial numbers, which must be stamped with serial numbers within seven days of their manufacture.
Apparently, about 3,000 firearm receivers stored at the manufacturing facility did not have serial numbers, while at least 136 receivers at another facility down the street also lacked serial numbers and may have been blank for a matter of years, and 103 of those, classified as machine gun receivers, were seized. Without serial numbers, guns can’t legally be moved from the facility where they’re made.
TrackingPoint out of business?
We have a report that TrackingPoint, makers of a computerized high-tech rifle/optics system that is billed as being able to shoot a moving target at almost 1,000 yards, has suspended all orders for its so-called precision guided firearm “due to financial difficulty.”
The company has reportedly been in trouble for some time, and has done some serious downsizing, and now sources say it is “officially out of business.” A statement on the company’s website simply says “Due to financial difficulty TrackingPoint will no longer be accepting orders. Thank you to our customers and loyal followers for sharing in our vision.”
Remington sale
Cerberus Capital Management has been unable to find a buyer for its Remington Outdoor Company (formerly the Freedom Group) and will let investors sell their stakes in the company, back to the company, at a price determined by the company, not the free market. Cerberus has been trying to sell the company since the Newtown, Connecticut school massacre, in which one of the company’s rifles was used.
Investors have 30 days to decide if they want to take up the offer and many are expected to do so, while Cerberus executives, Remington management and any investors who choose not to cash out will continue to own Remington through a separate newly created financial entity, which will allow Cerberus to claim it no longer “owns” Remington as a main private equity fund.
Armatix (“smart gun” maker) restructuring
The German manufacturer of the only so-called “smart” pistol available on the market today has entered Chapter 11-style restructuring proceedings in Germany, and claimed that “This is a corporate restructuring, not an insolvency proceeding.”
Armatix was to have been a key presenter at the first of five smart gun technology fairs that a “gun safety” group had organized to familiarize local law enforcement officials with developments in the area, but dropped out due to lack of travel funding approval. The fair went on with four other smart gun designers participating. The fairs are closed to the press.
(The organizing group is called “Do Not Stand Idly By,” and wants to “reduce gun violence by using the purchasing power of US police and military, who collectively purchase 40% of the guns sold in this country each year, to press gun manufacturers directly to create safer distribution systems and safer technology.” Don’t buy it. The remaining exhibitors include iGun Technology (a spinoff of O.F. Mossberg & Sons that makes an RFID shotgun); TriggerSmart (an Irish company pursuing RFID technologies); and an 18-year-old high student named Kai Klopfer who is developing a fingerprint-based smart pistol prototype.)
Broken Glocks
The Bardstown, KY police department has found a hairline fractures on 12 of their officers’ 40 caliber Glock 23s. Apparently when that happens, after the last round is fired the action should lock back, but “[the slide] wouldn’t lock back and then basically the slide would fall off the front of the barrel if you tipped it down.”