Unsealed Remington Documents Posted by Public Justice Show Defective Triggers in Millions of Rifles Could Fire on Their Own

Gun Owners Need to Claim Free Trigger Replacements ASAP

By Arthur Bryant

Chairman

Public Justice today made over 118,000 previously-sealed Remington documents available to the public on a new website, www.remingtondocuments.com. The documents show the company knew for decades the trigger in the Remington Model 700—the most popular bolt-action rifle in America—and a dozen other Remington models could fire when no one pulled it. Remington denied that fact (and still denies it), hid the truth, and kept selling the rifles. As a result, hundreds of people were maimed or killed—and millions are still at risk.

In December 2015, CNBC published an investigative report and aired a one-hour special, Remington Under Fire: The Reckoning, based in part on some of these documents. Public Justice’s new Remington Rifle Trigger Defect Documents website is making them public so people who own these rifles can protect themselves, their loved ones, and others.

Over 7.5 million Remington 700 and other rifles with this defective trigger are now in gun owners’ hands. A proposed settlement in Pollard v. Remington Arms, a national class action in federal court in Kansas City, MO, would provide free trigger replacements to all owners of Remington Model 700, Seven, Sportsman 78, 673, 710, 715, and 770 rifles who file claims. Everyone who owns one or more of these rifles should stop using them and submit a claim for each rifle.

Details about the proposed settlement are provided on Public Justice’s new Remington Rifle Trigger Defect Documents website and on the proposed settlement web site, http://remingtonfirearmsclassactionsettlement.com. To submit a claim, go here or here.

Proposed class members should file claims as soon as possible. They have until November 18, 2016, to opt out of the proposed settlement or object to it. A hearing on whether to approve the proposed settlement is scheduled for February 15, 2017.

The proposed settlement does not provide a free trigger replacement for Remington Model 600, 660, or XP-100 rifles, which were recalled in 1979. Their triggers can still be repaired for free. Everyone who owns one or more of these rifles should stop using them, get them repaired for free, and consider filing a claim for the compensation the proposed settlement provides. Go here for the Model 600 and 660 recall info and here for the XP-100 recall info.

The proposed settlement also does not provide a free trigger replacement for Remington Model 721, 722, and 725 rifles, which have the same defective trigger, too. Everyone who owns one or more of these rifles should stop using them (unless you get the defective trigger fixed) and consider filing a claim for the compensation the settlement provides.

Public Justice won public access to the documents it released today—and all of the documents in all lawsuits ever filed against Remington over these defective triggers—with the help of the plaintiffs’ lawyers in Pollard v. Remington Arms. To see the letters agreeing to public access, click here.

The documents were sought by Public Justice, in part, so Richard Barber of Montana—an NRA member and avid sportsman whose 9-year-old son, Gus Barber, was shot and killed when a Remington 700 fired without a trigger pull in 2000—could avoid Remington’s threat to sue him for contempt of court if he disclosed what he knew about the trigger’s defects. For more details on Richard Barber and Public Justice’s work to unseal the documents, click here.

Based on the documents, CNBC then published and broadcast Remington Under Fire: The Reckoning, and several related follow-up pieces. To see CNBC’s coverage, click here.

Public Justice’s new website includes PowerPoints and Timelines highlighting key documents and exposing Remington’s willingness to endanger its customers, their friends, and families to maximize profits. They reveal what Remington knew and what the company did—and didn’t—do, including decisions not to recall the rifles because it would cost too much and to destroy test results. They shine a light on the company’s response to customer complaints, triggers tests that failed, and Remington’s efforts to mislead its customers, the press, and the public.

The PowerPoints and Timelines were provided by Timothy Monsees of Monsees & Mayer, PC, attorneys experienced representing people injured by the Remington 700 and other rifles with the defective trigger. Elijah Ltd. designed and is hosting the website.

Public Justice was not involved in negotiating and has taken no position on the proposed settlement in Pollard v. Remington Arms. We believe strongly, however, that, to the extent that the proposed settlement leads to the replacement of the defective triggers in these rifles – or stops these rifles from being used – it will have performed an important public service.

If you own one of these rifles or know someone who does, please visit Pubic Justice’s new Remington Rifle Trigger Defect Documents website and take action, immediately.