Sunday, April 08, 2007

Remington Sale - Part 3

Update, Day 3: April 5, 2007
(Posted: a few days later)

Michael Bane's website offers More Content in respect to not only the Remington Corporate Garage Sale, but also in respect to the fall-out.

Specifically, The Word is that discredited outdoors writer Jim Zumbo may be the 'spokesman' for what Bane describes as "Big Green" (apparently a reference to the predominant color of ammunition packaging and marketing efforts of Remington ... both Arms and Ammunition.)

I don't know about you, but I consider this an astounding about-face for Zumbo who not only infamously poo-pooed Black Rifles as a legitimate sporting arms only a few weeks ago, but has since offered A Sincere Public Apology for his provincial 2nd Amendment attitude AND written to congress a defense of Black Rifles.

Excuse me. I mean, a defense of firearms which seem to have No Legitimate Sporting Purpose.

Now, there may be a tiny window of opportunity for Mr. Zumbo to creep back into the arms of NSSF inasmuch as he could be positioned to voice support of not only Remington, but also Bushmaster.

(I won't bother searching for the links; they're all over the gun-osphere.)

Amazingly, he may be proven to have survived the demise of his Flux Capacitor!

This isn't about Zumbo, his career or his mercurial attitudes toward the 2nd Amendment. It's about the future of Remington, and how the marketing of a failing firearms market may lead to some surprising changes of attitude (changes of latitude) for the designate spokesmen of said firearms market.

Nobody is paying me to write about the Firearms Industry, so please understand that I may be guilty of having not Got The Word. But if this rumor should be proven true, it will serve to prove my own ignorance. It will be a very interesting world for the next few months as we watch the tap-dancing exhibition.


I don't know how to take Zumbo's miraculous conversion. I never read his stuff before he became infamous, so I have no take on whether the conversion is/could be sincere or disingenuous. All I know is that he had an attitude, he got stomped into the mud and the blood and the beer from people who arguably should have known that it was ignorance talking rather than disenchantment with ugly semi-automatic rifles, and now the trend seems to be that he was just didn't make the connection because HEY! How many times do you see AR-15 knockoffs in an Elk Camp?

If you find yourself confused by recent events, please don't feel alone.

I just wish someone was paying me to know what to think about all of this.

I wouldn't be any less confused, but at least I wouldn't care any more.

NOTE:
Here is the official announcement from Remington, courtesy of The Bane Blog.

Bigger NOTE:

Here are some comments from the "official announcement" which may be of interest. Interpret these comments as you will:

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements give the Company’s current expectations or forecasts of future events. These forward looking statements include expectations regarding (i) the proposed sale, (ii) the anticipated benefits of the sale and (iii) the timing of the proposed sale. The Company cautions that these statements are qualified by important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include the demand for the Company’s products, the Company’s growth opportunities, and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company’s reports filed with the SEC, including its Form 10-K Report for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006.

The Company assumes no obligation to update publicly such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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