Mystery company buying up U.S. gun manufacturers

Mystery company buying up U.S. gun manufacturers

www.sfgate.com

In recent years, many top-selling brands - including the 195-year-old Remington Arms, as well as Bushmaster Firearms and DPMS, leading makers of military-style semiautomatics - have quietly passed into the hands of a single private company. It is called the Freedom Group - and it is the most powerful and mysterious force in the U.S. commercial gun industry today.

(visit the link for the full news article)

The Freedom Group has been causing many in weaponry circles to scratch their heads, and it has been the focus of a few conspiracy theories. Some allege that it is a clever gun-grabbing ploy, or that a foreign enemy is quietly undermining the US gun industry. Some claim George Soros is behind it all.

The Freedom Group appears not to be backed by Soros, but by Stephen Feinberg, the chief executive of Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus is a huge but little-known private investment company that acquired Chrysler in 2007. It's name, "Cerebus," is often the source of uneasy joking in certain financial circles, for this is the name of the three-headed Hound of Hell in Greek mythology that stands at the gates of Hades. But hey, tha's neither here nor there...right?

OK, ATS, have at it...who is buying up US gun manufacturers? Just a group of honest investors out to make a buck, or shadowy players with darker long-term intentions?

www.sfgate.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Cerberus capital management seems to lean very republican, I would say it fits that they would invest in guns.

Just a group of honest investors out to make a buck, or shadowy players with darker long-term intentions?

People with that kind of capital obviously have their own agendas. It's just a matter of whether or not it is one that is beneficial to the West (Given that they are Western companies).

On that note, I doubt these companies would be passed to people that have a negative plan for the Western States.

People have been buying up the guns for the last year or two. Sales are high. Smart investment.

A private corporation in search of the dollar or...

A Govt. ploy to take control of who buys what and when?

Seems very suspicious that when the Govt. is trying to disarm the people, a company pops up in an attempt to corner the weapons market...IMO...

Peace

Apparently, The Freedom Group :

What is Freedom Group?

We are the world's leading innovator, designer, manufacturer and marketer of firearms, ammunition and related products for the hunting, shooting sports, law enforcement and military markets. As one of the largest manufacturers in the world of firearms and ammunition, we have some of the most globally recognized brands including Remington®, Bushmaster® Firearms, DPMS/Panther Arms™, Marlin®, H&R®, The Parker Gun™, EOTAC™, Mountain Khakis®, Advanced Armament Corp. ®, Dakota Arms® and Barnes® Bullets.
For more information download the Freedom Group Brochure.

Source: www.freedom-group.com...

Which is owned by:

Freedom Group is owned by Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity investment firm.

Source: en.wikipedia.org...
Which is run by

On October 19, 2006, John W. Snow, President George W. Bush's second Treasury Secretary, was named chairman of Cerberus.

Source: en.wikipedia.org...
Which also owns: en.wikipedia.org...

And was also number 47 on the United States Federal Contractors top contractors list with a contract of $1,561,670,857.04 in 2009 Source: en.wikipedia.org...

And in 2010 they acquired:

On April 12, 2010 Cerberus acquired DynCorp International, a private military contractor.

Source: en.wikipedia.org...

The company buying them (Cerberus) was founded by Steve Feinberg, he is very right wing.

Here is what Wiki's page about him says:

Steve and Gisela Feinberg are prolific donors to the Republican Party and related organizations. Former Republican Vice President of the United States Dan Quayle works for Cerberus as Chairman of Global Investments, and former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was a client.

Now what will happen is that as they become dominate in the marketplace and close to a monopoly of firearms manufacturers, they'll start charging 10X for a rifle or a box of ammo - and of course, like clockwork, the right-wing will blame it all on the Dems.

I guess if you see war for the forseeable future, it would be wise to own the arms manufacturers. However, I don't like the thought of all the arms and munition manufacturers being owned by a single entity. Wouldn't that fall under anti-trust laws?

As a maker of the M-16 magazine, I don't care who buys what, as long as the manufacturing stays in the US...time will tell.

This isn't good...

Well, it's definitely time to start stocking up on this stuff.

Better safe than sorry.

well ti seems the Rem just changed the name nothing more , ok they did buy or merge with other manufactures freedom-group.com...

FGI Operating Company, Inc. (“FGIOC”) entered into the Joinder Agreement and Fourth Amendment to Loan and Security Agreement (the “Fourth Amendment”) on June 6, 2011, by and among FGIOC, Remington Arms Company, Inc. (“Remington”), The Marlin Firearms Company (“Marlin”), H&R 1871, LLC (“H&R”), Bushmaster Firearms International, LLC (“Bushmaster”), DPMS Firearms, LLC (“DPMS”), E-RPC, LLC (“E-RPC”), RA BRANDS, L.L.C. (“RA Brands”, and together with FGIOC, Remington, Marlin, H&R, Bushmaster, DPMS and E-RPC, each individually an “Existing Borrower” and collectively, “Existing Borrowers”), Advanced Armament Corp., LLC (“AAC”), Barnes Bullets, LLC (“Barnes”, and together with AAC, each individually a “New Borrower” and collectively, “New Borrowers”; the New Borrowers and the Existing Borrowers, together, each individually,

goes on to list banks and other corp mobo jubo so you see nothing to get all worked up abut as long as Springfield stays Springfield i could care less springfield-armory.com...

Hmm... It would seem the Militias are simply improving their contingency plans.

Honestly, it's something that is bound to happen sooner or later. Many of these manufacturers are all making their own version of the same darn gun (some of them are better than others... but - it gets a little ridiculous). It only makes sense that there be a sort of 'culling' and trend to unify the market producers under fewer banners.

Intel and AMD have both been acquiring various specialty markets within the computer industry.

Doesn't seem much to worry about to me.

reply to post by silent thunder


Well I'd like to think it's opposed to the dark forces that have a grip on the world's governments.
Yet it's probably just another big corporate firm looking to outsource once it can get away with it...
We shall see either way...

reply to post by silent thunder

Wasn't there a recent study that suggested that one in every 25 CEO's are sociopaths? Let's see if these puzzle peices fit:

1. One CEO (and a Heggie to boot - the very worst kind) - check
2. One world on the edge of chaos - check
3. One opportunity to control what is probably the most affective form of protection for when TSHTF - check

So we have someone who could be a sociopathic Hedge Fund Manager CEO used to domination and power in his now everyday life who is silently acquiring the nation's largest stockpile of affective weaponry. Whether for profit or power, I'd say that the puzzle fits perfectly.

Originally posted by boncho
On that note, I doubt these companies would be passed to people that have a negative plan for the Western States.

I would typically agree with you, boncho, but these Hedge Fund Managers have more money than people can possibly imagine and when money talks...

Believe me, I know this from personal experience.

reply to post by timidgal


Good angle, it makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Those private investment guys are tertiary predators by nature.

What I think is funny is why anyone with two nickels to rub together would give them a dime, let alone $5 million and up to play with. It boggles the mind. I'd rather stick my arm in a meat grinder. Yeah sure you get those kind returns....until suddenly you don't. Just ask Mr. Madoff's clients. Now he may be a special case in some way but these people are by nature no better, just a little smarter and smoother.

Anyway, arms is a great investment as others in this thread have mentioned. It's no mystery that big financial names would go after arms companies in general. What strikes me as interesting about this case, however, is how this one big name has seemingly cornered the market. This reminds me of a typical Goldman Sachs move...why isn't their sleazy imprint on this scheme? Are they slipping? Putting together a near-monopoly takes serious connections. And the firearms world is heavily juiced into the military world. Lot of people going back and forth, lot of palm-pressing and plum jobs...lotta strands to this story, how deep does it really go?

reply to post by silent thunder


Hopefully it's some liberal who happens to be rich trying to shut down the gun industry.

I used to worry about this but I don't anymore. There are already too many guns out there so even if they bought these companies and then shut them down it's to late. Its like shutting the barn door after all the cows have escaped.

Also many people can make guns from scratch in there garages or shops and often better then the factories. They'll never be able to get rid of them if that is there plan. They make them in 3rd world countries like Afghanistan now days. Heck there are plans on the net for making you own AK from materials you can buy locally with no machining.

So they have lost that battle already... If they keep passing laws against them people will just go more and more underground with them and if they go to far they will provoke a revolt. Outlawing them will just make them more prevalent just like drugs.