The American firm with the iconic name of Colt has declared bankruptcy. As Tiffany Kary of Bloomberg reports:
… the 179-year-old gunmaker that supplies M4 carbines and M16 rifles for the U.S. and foreign militaries, filed for bankruptcy amid delayed government sales and declining demand. The West Hartford, Connecticut-based firearms maker listed assets of as much as $500 million and debt of as much as $500 million in a Chapter 11 filing late Sunday in bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Delaware. Wilmington Trust Company is listed as the biggest unsecured creditor with a $261 million claim.
Well, it isn’t the first time. Back when he was coming up with firearms of revolutionary design and, just as importantly, the manufacturing processes to make them, Samuel Colt ran into financial difficulties and:
In 1842, after eight years of operation, sales were sluggish and the first plant, in New Jersey, closed.
So, being as long on determination as he was on vision:
Samuel Colt designed a more powerful revolver, the Walker, and opened new plants and went on to become one of the 10 wealthiest businessmen in the U.S., according to the company’s website.
The story of Colt, and the American firearms industry in general, is insufficiently celebrated. Go here for an exception.
