A reader sent me details about a company called Global Digital Solutions filing a Form 8-K with the SEC announcing their intent to acquire Remington Outdoor Company, previously known as Freedom Group. At first I thought this might be some conspiracy stuff, but as I started looking into it myself, I think we might have something to really be concerned about here. Because what else is GDSI known for? Personalized Gun Control. Their technology essentially provides, according to their release “Encrypted, password-protected, digital, trigger-locking capability.” and “Secure, real-time online tracking,” and if that’s not enough to get your tin foil hat in a bunch, “Encrypted, cloud-enabled databases.” No sir. You make guns with this, I won’t buy them. In fact, that would pretty much ensure I never buy any other product from Remington Outdoor ever again. I am also not the only gun owner who feels this way. You can take that to the bank. They do add:
In the commercial marketplace, the company emphasized that use of the encrypted locking device and other GDSI Gatekeeper safety and security features would be completely voluntary on the part of individual small arms owners and authorized dealers.
“Here in the United States, the right of the people to keep and bear arms is constitutionally protected and inviolable,” Sullivan added. “The Gatekeeper program will provide additional safety and security for law-abiding gun owners in the United States and elsewhere. We believe Gatekeeper’s secure locking and tracking features could encourage millions of people who might have shied away from keeping firearms in their homes because of safety concerns to reconsider. And collectors would be able use make use of Gatekeeper’s tracking and database features to exercise greater control over their prized firearms collections.”
It’ll be voluntary until you put this on the market, then it’ll be mandatory. That’s already the case under New Jersey law. All it takes is a declaration from the state Attorney General and this will be the only technology you can buy there. Also, if this naive CEO thinks the “right of the people to keep and bear arms is constitutionally protected and inviolable” I have a bridge to sell him.
Now I want to be clear, GSDI’s offer is unsolicited, meaning Remington didn’t approach them. It doesn’t mean Remington Outdoors is having anything to do with these yahoos. But I want to be clear to GDSI that they will have one hell of a poison pill to swallow in what the gun community will do to the Remington companies if a deal like this were to ever go through.
Hear hear
Maybe its time to flood Remington with e-mails,calls , letting them know we won’t buy Remington/Freedomgroup products if this tech is included in any way shape or form.
I don’t think so, just yet. This is an unsolicited bid. I may contact someone at Remington tomorrow and see if I can get a comment.
I don’t think you need to waste their time on it. There’s no evidence that they are considering this offer or even talking to these people. This company sent out a press release touting it themselves, so why punish any customer relations folks at Remington for this other company’s self-promotion?
Good points, better to get all the facts before we start letting our feelings known.
For all we know Remington may agree completely with their customers , like us.
Does anyone know the assets that this company has?
Do they even have the billion plus in cash on hand?
And looking at their business plan the subtext is pretty obvious that they feel their product will become illegal to not use, hence they’ll get all the “synergy” they want.
Something doesn’t smell right. This company is small, as of 9/13 they only had $1M Cash on hand with no Revenues and only expenses according to their SEC filings from NASDAQ.
SEC Filing Link
http://www.gdsi.co/page12.html
Click on the 10Q Document (SEC version) dated 10/22/13
On page 24/25 they do list some Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities but they come to several hundred thousand or one case $1M but nothing anywhere near putting in bid for $1B…!
Additionally on page 20/25 they lay out a plan for company they acquired called Airtronic. The projected Cashflow for this newly acquired company/Airtronic is ~$20M for all of 2014…and that’s only a projection.
Once again, something doesn’t smell right here. Someone is funding these guys because their Financial history is pretty weak, with no Revenues and only being kept afloat by selling Stock and private Investor contributions.
Who could be funding these guys? Bloomberg? Maybe him and a bunch of his cronies? The point is there is no way they are doing this on their own.
Sebastian, don’t forget the most interesting thing they do – FDA-approved human-implantable RFID chips to go with those guns. I made sure to quote it, and I bumped a screenshot from GDSI’s site up to the top of the page as I’ve been reading more about it and thus editing the post trying to make the whole GDSI company that much more transparent.
Smart Gun Company Going after Remington Then All of America’s Gun Industry
“”The company is confident that its Gatekeeper suite of advanced technology solutions will be successful because the team behind its development has a proven track record of impressive results while leading Applied Digital Solutions and Digital Angel Corporation, including:
The first-ever FDA-approved, human-Implantable RFID tags that continue to be used by several foreign militaries;
The first proof-of-concept implanted GPS-wireless tracking device which was successfully implanted in a sheep in 2002;
The first-of-their-kind GPS-wireless tracking devices still sold to and used by probation and corrections offices around the country.””
Sorry… I didn’t mention that. But I did provide a link to your post about it in the beginning of the post.
No worries.
Just wanted to make sure you didn’t miss the grade-A level supervillain-crazy that GDSI actively advertises on their website as a “good thing”. And wanted to make sure that was out there for folks to see, too.
Dude, that is actually pretty cool. I mean, come on, it’s a cyborg gun accessory!
Can I get a smartlink with that to help me aim?
they will have one hell of a poison pill to swallow in what the gun community will do to the Remington companies if a deal like this were to ever go through.
It would be epic (and I hate that word).
I won’t say I would NEVER buy a new Remington product..but not until the company is under new and unrelated ownership, and probably not unless the company is sold at a loss.
Just like Smith & Wesson. Their British owners made a deal with Clinton, and we killed them to death for it. Then they were sold at a loss and reincarnated.
Does anyone remember what happened to Colt back in the nineties? The boycott was effective, I think, in driving change at Colt. I still (perhaps irrationally now) have a hard time with the idea of buying their guns. Point simply being that the customer base is passionate and principle-oriented. The individual consumers dropping thousands on guns each year pay attention to stuff like this, affecting their own and others’ buying decisions.
If mighty Colt could be boycotted by us, despite our love for the brand and its history, sure as damn hell ol’ Remington can. Let’s hope they stay smart in opposing gun control on all fronts, regulatory and commercial.
Even worse, former MA Senator Scott Brown is on the Advisory Board!
http://www.gdsi.co/page11.html
They have hired a private equity firm (Midtown Partners) to help them raise funds…someone/some people are actually helping this private equity firm raise funds for GDSI…
http://www.gdsi.co/page49.html
Think of the bargain that Remington Outdoors will be in about 3-4 years. You can pick up the rotting remains at a discount, just like S&W after the Clinton deal.
Just ignore the human wreckage from laid off workers, stiffed suppliers and out of business distributors. (If the story is true, start campaigning to these people, they know what would happen in this business.)
And if I owned any of Remington Outdoors, I would not take anything but cold, hard cash. No stock, no options, no warrants, no bonds; because they are only worth what the new company is worth.
You’re talking as though such a sale has taken place. It hasn’t. There’s no evidence at this time that it ever would. Did you miss the bolded point that “GSDI’s offer is unsolicited”?
This sounds more like a PR stunt than an actual serious attempt to buy big green.
This is an almost perfect parallel to the Saf-T-Hammer buyout of Smith & Wesson some years back: a small company with few assets (in that case *no* assets other than a patent) was able to buy out a major gun manufacturer for the apparently sole reason of putting integral locks on the company’s products. It worked.
Be careful with the posturing: gun owners back then said the same things (“I’ll never buy another S&W product”) and organized a boycott of the company after the acquisition. You’ll note S&W is still in business, still has the accursed lock, and is more successful than ever.
If a top-tier firm started making them, then some states would require them all to do it. Then that increases the chance of winning the real lottery: national regulation.
The gun lock/magic token/microstamping craze has nothing to do with guns. It’s venture capital betting that they can get their IP mandated by law. There is no easier money than having the government require all your competitors to buy your IP.
The IP tax is something that does not exist in firearms today. You got choices. But from the perspective of venture hawks, that means the field is open. It means they could implement anything and make the money – provided they can get government to enact regulations for its use.
Past performance means the long-shot “sale” of the regulation is possible. Anyone remember safe manufacturers clamoring against safe storage laws in the many places it is now required?
Nope. Me, either. The best you saw was a plea to make sure that their product would be included in the government-mandated sales campaign. Next time you read “Cal DoJ Approved” or something similar, think about whether that firm worked against the law requiring you buy their product.
Older examples: banning foreign imports of certain arms. Who needs that competition?
It’s not about guns. It’s about money. To the venture people, we’re nothing but a target market ripe with opportunity. Politicians would be happy to grease some skids for those looking to Keep Kids Safe(tm). Right now it’s hard, because nobody is doing it. Create a larger supply, and then government can easily “stimulate” the demand.
Anyway, that’s the VC way.
it took me scanning all the way down to this comment to save myself some energy.
these folks are doing nothing more than trying to dominate the market via gov regulation – no different than comcast, verizon, energy firms and any other regulated industry. it’s an intentional move to create another gov-business alliance where companies screw consumers with government oversight and approval.
Even if they were serious, I suspect they would quickly crash and burn and be forced to sell the company at a loss.
Kinda a shame it’s not legit, really, as the end-all would be nothing for Remington, and a big loss for anybody foisting “Smart Gun” Technology on people.