Yikes, if purchased, the Navajo nation would toss production of ARs and pistols, leaving only hunting type rifles and shotguns. Also, Alabama would lose big if production were moved to the Navajo Reservation (biggest in USA).Remington turned down a purchase offer from one of the largest Native American tribes in the country, according to a report from the New York Times published this week.
The Navajo Nation — encompassing 350,000 members across 27,000 square miles in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah — offered the iconic gun maker between $475 million and $525 million in cash in a draft letter obtained by the New York Times in May.
The tribe’s plan for the company, however, included discontinuing the sale of modern sporting rifles, ramping up contracts with law enforcement and military and using profits to invest in “smart gun” technology. The Native American Incentive Act would give the tribe a leg-up in obtaining lucrative government contracts, according to the newspaper.
The only guns left for public consumption would be rifles and shotguns for hunters, according to the tribe’s lawyer, Drew Ryce. Plans also existed for production to move onto the reservation, providing jobs for its members. The Navajo Nation employment rate exceeds 70 percent, Ryce said.
Remington emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in May and now belongs to Franklin Templeton and JP Morgan Chase — both former creditors of the company.
Like all big deals, turning down the initial offer doesn't mean this Navajo deal couldn't go through at a higher price.