Freedom also benefited from broad growth in the American gun market. They are in bed with government (including the odious State of NY) on numerous levels. Freedom Group used its integrated brand portfolio as leverage. But if all people were basically good, why would we, increasingly, pass more and more elaborate laws? ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. And this is just one company, the company I work for is even worse at violating laws and regulations. Biden Dares Republicans to Go After Obamacare and Medicaid. Jason Schauble didnt see this as problematic, so long as Kevin maintained proper control and dominion over the guns as per ATF regulations and federal law. Problem is, its state law where we live that this practice is 100% illegal, and the AG even sent letters out to remind companies of this. Remington eventually sent a single person to iron out the compliance issues, in the form of a former private investigator with a few days of ATF training and no background in compliance whatsoever. My point: Free market proponents expect contracts to be enforced quickly and effectively. The judge didnt find Kevins testimony credible on that point, but the lack of evidence to support Freedom Groups assertion that the guns were Kevins makes it a moot point. #123456abc Scary Black Rifle Industries. In a rare interview in early 2008, he pitched himself as a blue-collar billionaire and distanced himself from his Ivy League pedigree. I could teach anyone how to do this with a properly sighted gun in five minutes. Gravity was a constant, and one could consult a table to calculate the trajectory. This password will be used to sign into all, Its impolite to call your customers wannabes, said the former Cerberus insider. Reichert agreed, and the two began to discuss a new venture. Yet it may not be a loss for the left. GMAC was converted into Ally Financial, the online bank, and Feinbergs patriotic stake in Chrysler ended up with the Italian carmaker Fiat. Advanced Armament Corporation (AAC) is an American company that develops and manufactures firearms, firearm suppressors, muzzle devices and related accessories. Your continuing to work for a company that is no longer yours is a completely different matter than the buy-out price of the existing company at the point where ownership and control is transferred to the buyer. So did a former Bushmaster employee I spoke with, whose complaints about Cerberuss conduct sounded, at times, more like complaints about capitalism itself. He still is a gun guy. ;-P. I think Ill defer any future purchases of products owned by or associated with Remington or the freedom group. Like concealed carry laws that followed, they were supposedly never intended to be applied to John q publicjust the bad element. Rick Scott Is Unfortunately Right About Novak Djokovic. The idea was that Remington would either purchase those guns later or get some replacements, but in the meantime Kevins stash would remain in the shop and fuel the development of new products. I think we just misunderstood each other. At the point when they want control, they need to cough up the full fair value in the deal. In early 2016, Donald Trump unexpectedly decapitated the Republican Party, and GOP power brokers were forced to choose sides. At 5:00 PM, Jason Schauble sent in his resignation stating I just dont feel that we (fgi) have a fundamental philosophy that I can reconcile with on many levels.. But the fear of regulation in the aftermath spurred gun hoarding, and this was good for Cerberus. It makes no sense. Disarmament rests on the assumption that all people are good, and, basically, want the same things. Throughout the years, Cerberus has owned controlling stakes in dozens of businesses. After the sale, things went south quickly. This is what happens when we concede to reasonable gun control measures, high levels of unreasonableness. People really need to understand that if you dont get paid up front, free and clear, without strings attached, then you are getting ripped off. . The issue is that under the original employment agreement, Kevin needed to be issued a written warning and be given an opportunity to fix the problem (over a period of 30 days). Shooting a 180-pound deer is the same tech as shooting an 180-pound man, said Brittingham, and Freedom was staffed with a number of people whod done both. Youre really comparing ATF compliance (which has been a boon to many FFLs) to selling computers? Pending. Net Worth in 2021. In the comments, shed posed the question: Who is my dad.???????. No insult intended to Brittingham, but I suspect he would have preferred to have done things differently and avoided all of this in hindsight. Its part of campaign to smoke out and then attack unpopular Republican cuts. I think we are at the juncture to discuss whether we want to make a leadership change for the long term at AAC if we believe that KB is not up to the task. Kevin and the AAC guys saw what was happening and were understandably concerned. . Ethically challenged executives and managers are pretty much the standard. But revenue remains soft in a market still saturated by the assault-rifle-buying frenzy of 2013, and Remington, in a tacit acknowledgment of its critics, has abandoned the kind of combat-oriented marketing imagery that so excited its customers. Soon, Remington-branded assault rifles were available at Walmart. Dont mean to be demeaning. It was a sweet deal on its face, but it never had a chance. Before being acquired by Cerberus, Bushmasters bare-bones product brochure had all the glamour of a catalogue of plumbing fixtures. Jeff Cooper and others have made strong arguments for the idea that aimed semiautomatic fire is more dangerous and desirable than burst or full auto save very limited situations like suppressing fire. Manufacturing was moved to Ilion, and Bushmaster customers soon noticed a drop in product quality. Although the PLCAA granted immunity from lawsuits of this type, lawmakers had left an exception: negligent entrustment. This term referred to the rights of victims to sue gun dealers who had sold weapons irresponsibly say, to a customer who was obviously drunk or homicidal. About six things lined up to allow the mortgage-based financial crisis. but the lack of evidence to support Freedom Groups assertion that the guns were Kevins makes it a moot point.. It was the closest victims of gun violence had come since PLCAAs passing to holding a gun company responsible, but in the end, Cerberuss bet that the law would shield its investment turned out to be right. Remington could have gotten exactly what they wanted if they had just been patient. Tier 1s biggest customer was the United States Special Operations Command. But if I lived in New York City in a building with a hundred people, and I saw a guy with an assault weapon in his hand in the hallway, I think Id go back in my apartment.. . It has owned a school-bus manufacturer, a chain of bowling alleys, and a Japanese bank. Check out the CMP where guys have HUNDREDS of PERSONAL M1s etc and they know every SN, part and the freaking throat erosion number. Kevin had standing orders that any Maxim silencer his employees found should immediately be purchased for his collection, but he also used them as models for designing new silencers by examining their construction. Guys screwing over each other for peanuts. Feinberg actually did live in New York, but he didnt waver either. They werent in it for the right reasons. When I suggested to him that Cerberus just wanted profits, he responded with indignation. Much of it was encouraged at the time by speeches, quite a bit by regulation & guidance, and some by legislation. Kevin had been suspended for no reason there was insufficient evidence that a single silencer whose provenance and purpose was unclear was justification for cause to fire him, especially when Kevins personal guns were still being used for R&D purposes as per the terms of the agreement. The opposite of equitable rule of law could be an oligarcy, feudalism, corporatocracy, or any various flavors of totalitarian collectivism littered throughout history where the law, such that it is, is used to bludgeon the little people and potential competitors, but passes are handed out like candy on Halloween for the properly connected and/or titled (ahem Obamacare ahem). Brittingham, the founder of Advanced Armament Corporation, currently holds more than 40 patents in the firearms industry. Investment managers werent likely to view the company favorably until the companys product-quality concerns were addressed. It was its most profitable year. In 2012, his daughter Lindsey posted a picture of her fathers T-shirt to Instagram. Well, not partners just Steve Feinberg, he is the partner but between the managing directors, it was a very Eat what you kill mentality.. I dont think so, but its your sandbox, so your call.). But his victims were able to bring a civil lawsuit against Bushmaster, arguing that the company failed to ensure the weapon wouldnt end up in the hands of criminals. The Californians have been booted from Frogmore Cottage because the king (or the character invented by the U.K. press) has had enough of their abuse. One example is the migration of the Activision guys through Microsoft, then into Smith and Tinker (which eventually didnt work, exactly.). The full test is available for download here, but for those who dont want to wade through all 117 pages of brilliantly written legal analysis Ill try to summarize . PLCAA granted gunmakers broad immunity from lawsuits from victims of gun violence. He seems to be sloppy, lazy, and foolish. My what a tangled web we weave. They even went so far as to give silencers to people who had an AAC logo tattooed on their bodies, a marketing campaign that was so successful that they sunk a quarter million dollars into it before it ended. Instead, the purchasers tended to be seasoned gun collectors with large arsenals. Why would I say that about Somalia? Its all about not looking soft on crime. But months later when the list made its way to Freedom Groups headquarters, they took it as gospel that the guns in the Kevin pile were all actually Kevins guns, did no further fact checking, and decided to fire him without notice. Unions arent perfect, but as a member of a construction trade union all of my benefits are rolled into one hourly rate that the contractor pays. This is what happens when people think they can get away with whatever they want. On the dotted line of that agreement he signed only the word flounder. According to Kevin that was written in the title box, as Kevin had had his title changed from president to founder, but he doesnt remember writing it. Many of these accessories were of questionable utility. I never mentioned Remington, ING did. Like a lot. BUSHMASTER It makes no sense. Actually, if everyone were equally well-armed and well-trained, even that wouldnt be necessary. Its an amoral, uncaring thing that has enormous benefits for those who can harness it and carelessly crushes those who fall afoul of it. Behind all of this is Feinberg. The big companies who are buying you have scads of lawyers on their staff. They dont know what theyre talking about, and the only thing theyre interested in is making money for themselves. Florida Republican Wants to Cancel Democrats Over Slavery. Repeated emails warning that the guy wasnt qualified went unheeded, and he immediately set to work trying to untangle AACs books. Others, some on TTAG, have written more comprehensive and eloquent summaries than this. In June of this year, the companys latest CEO, Jim Marcotuli, stated the obvious: Were not for sale.. Back in October, a pre SHOT Show photo shoot took place at AACs HQ. But hed left the ROTC before graduation and landed a job on Wall Street, trading securities for Drexel Burnham Lambert, the pioneer of the junk bond. He was summarily fired for guns that either werent actually his or were being legitimately used for R&D purposes being in the shop, and that was a breach of the contract from Freedom Groups end. Its interesting to me that everything done in the run-up, with the possible exception of conglomerate financial firms falsely reporting the value of their assets when they knew better, was perfectly legal. After her fame from RHOD, she recently launched her own jewelry line called Kamo by Kary. Shall not be infringed seems pretty straight forward from a pro-2a standpoint. Concentrated into a smaller demographic were the serial gun purchasers, a hard core of about 3 percent of the U.S. population. Keeping yourself legal, when your entire revenue relies off it should be top priority, instead of relying on another company to do hopefully do it. Wed get after-action reports from the front lines, saying these tactics saved us, or this medical training saved us, with details, Reichert said. As Gunsmith points out, any decent exec knows when to hire folks who can handle such matters. Thats TEN MILLION DOLLARS. Each month, he paid an equal share of Bushmasters gross profits to every employee, from the CEO to the guy who cleaned the toilets. Meanwhile, with elementary schools across the country now forced to conduct active shooter drills, the California teachers were demanding out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QDv4sYwjO0, Ill see that and raise you these: Or, perhaps more subtly, for anything that pays out later, you either have enforcement costs, or you better design things so everybody benefits together. Also, you forgot the talking point about how the US will become Somalia if income tax rates are reduced more than 2%. Kevin and his buddies and his wife who built AA are good guys. They certainly didnt. View FREE Public Profile & Reputation for Kevin Brittingham in Milton, DE - See Court Records | Photos | Address, Email & Phone Number | Personal Review | Income & Net Worth The one exception Ive seen is acquisitions in hot areas of IT / Software. Related: 'Real Housewives of Dallas': Did Bravo Fire Former Housewife, LeeAnne Locken? They made something, made it well, and EARNED every penny, WHILE treating their employees very well. DPMS / Panther Arms They told him that he had been fired for cause and that he could return if and only if he signed a document saying that he admitted fault, agreed to a lower pay (previously $250,000/year), and was on probation for a year during which they could fire him without notice. The Biden administrations policy of blocking unvaccinated people from the country continues to make little sense. Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission. On December 19th, Schauble got his response. Or where a random suppressor may or may not have showed up not-so-randomly on company property for KBs personal use. Which is just like saying that cheating is ok as long as you dont get caught. His net worth is a matter of debate. Anyone who has been around small businesses knows that they are hornets nest of incompetence, greed and outright fraud. Jamie Reeds shocking account of a clinic mistreating children went viral. For founders of small companies, get a lawyer. Freedom Group and Remington had conspired to find a way to fire Kevin in order to save $4 to $8 million that he was due as performance incentives and pay.. I really, really like that quote. There had been Big Pharma, and Big Oil, but never Big Gun. He joined him on one of his elk-hunting jaunts and described the billionaire as an ordinary, down-to-earth American. Feinberg even offered to fly Reichert to California for a consultation with a leading plastic surgeon regarding his still-disfigured face. Surveys estimated that somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of Americans owned guns, but usually just one or two. Jack Brittingham Born: June 14, 1958 (age 64 years), United States Jack Brittingham Instagram net worth How much money is Jack Brittingham making on Instagram? As far as maintaining a list of serial #s, descriptions, and ownership there shouldnt be any difference. The next year was even worse. . This entire mess wouldve been non-existent had they not had to contend with ATF compliance.. Without the fear of a Democratic president seizing their guns, theres no need for hoarding. Moral of the story, dont get involved with freedom group. Model 123. [24] AAC also partners with the National Rifle Association in grassroots lobbying efforts to educate voters about firearms legislation. While the guns were being sorted, a hand written list of which guns were under whose ownership was compiled. Youre dumb, because Im not talking about Remington and I indicated it was a tangent for a reason If I wanted to do anything with SBRs or cans, Id hire a consulting firm to help walk me through everything, from applying for the FFL and additional licensing, the ITAR crap and then and do compliance audits before the ATF does. By 2009, it looked like a recruiting poster for Delta Force. Seems like keeping track of your personal and business property would be a no-brainer.. Ten years after that, he was a Wall Street colossus. His point applied broadly: Freedom Groups business strategy was to use Americas Special Forces as an R&D department for selling guns at Walmart. I guess we ll have to agree to disagree LOL. He resigned because there was no plan to keep it independent. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. It was exciting too as it was the first gun that we had in stock when we released it. The military-proven guns offered the buyer vicarious status as an operator, although Cerberus understood well that few of its customers actually had combat experience. The business deal would have worked fine, and theyd have all lived happily ever after. Remington and Freedom Group manage products for the masses.completely out of line fundamentally with AACs products. The potential cost savings to be realized by consolidating these operations into a single, modern factory were substantial. The only thing he hard from Remington was that he had been fired for cause, which would void his employment agreement and leave him out $4 million. The companies it was buying were small and inefficient, with unjustifiable overhead. It is important to point out that at the time this email was written, Remington and Freedom Group had no knowledge that Kevin had done anything wrong. Dont do that. His commitment to military contracting seemed to go beyond money. Remington and Freedom Group finally had their excuse to can Brittingham when a single antique silencer was delivered to AACs doorstep. Im just guessing here, but it sounds like FG was looking for a reason to fire KB and used an alleged improper transfer/possession of a maxim suppressor to justify termination. A trope of the left is that low taxes and government regulation = failed states. In the meantime, AAC continued to use their pre-sale FFLs to conduct business while Freedom Group obtained a new one for the new AAC, and even after the new FFL was in place the existing stocks of guns and ammo that had been agreed upon as part of the sale remained in the old FFLs bound books. It was a moot point, according to the judges decision, because Kevin was present during that photo shoot. When youre transferring a fairly large amount of machine guns from three seperate FFLs dependent on set dates of the sale, some of which are private owned and on site at times and not at other times, every time it changes possession every move that needs to be recorded, but theres photoshoots, testing, etc often. Kevin wanted silencers to be mainstream, and getting Remington to start marketing silencers would be a major step forward. If it hadnt been for the unconstitutional gun control insanity, none of this would ever have come up. Plays Incompetent Willy Wonka at CPAC. Its not as hard as it sounds, Reichert told me. Novelty sells in this business more than tactical improvements, he told me. This might well save you lots of money later. Not that it matters to me pragmatically. Oh, slow quarter since this years economy crashed? He wasn't really that interested in commercializing it. If my girlfriend was fired tomorrow, she gets all her vacation time because its earned wages, and the company withholding them is essentially theft. For several values of they, as we say in the nerd-pool. 2. Privacy Policy and Ive skipped over a lot of detail. All this intrigue sounds like a bunch of bitchy college girls. Disabling a security camera is NOT shady compared to a major corporation trying to cheat you out of $10,000,000!!!! It currently owns the Albertsons supermarket empire and previously owned the Alamo and National car-rental chains. Having said that, Freedomless group tried to pull a dirtbag move and they received the punishment they deserved. Although the U.S. governments 2009 automotive-industry bailout forced Cerberus to devalue its holdings in the two firms, Cerberus was able to salvage what could have been a total loss.