became CEO of Freedom Group in September 2010 as the North Carolina-based gun maker searched for a permanent CEO. In March 2012, Nardelli stepped down as CEO of Freedom Group and as head of the operations and advisory business of Cerberus Capital Management and became adviser to Stephen Feinberg, the head and founder of Cerberus. In December 2012, citing the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as "a watershed event that has raised the national debate on gun control to an unprecedented level," Cerberus announced it would sell all of its investments in Freedom Group. The private equity firm said it would retain a financial adviser to sell its interests in Freedom Group, and would return the proceeds to investors. The decision was made after a California pension board, a Cerberus stakeholder, announced it would dispose of all stakes it held in firearms manufacturers that make weapons banned by state law. As of February 2018, Cerberus still owns the company. On August 15, 2017, James Marcotuli announced his resignation as Chief Executive Officer citing personal reasons as his cause of departure. On October 25, 2017, the company announced that Anthony Acitelli would take on the role of CEO. The families of nine victims and a teacher who was shot and survived in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in which 20 children and six adult staff were fatally shot with a Bushmaster brand AR-15 style rifle, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Remington, a firearms wholesaler, and a firearms dealer, seeking a jury trial to recover unspecified damages. In 2016 the suit was dismissed by the Connecticut Superior Court citing the immunity provided to firearms manufacturers by the federal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act of 2005. The suit was delayed by Remington's 2018 bankruptcy. On March 14, 2019 the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that the suit's wrongful marketing claim could proceed under Connecticut's Unfair Trade Practices Law. The Connecticut Supreme Court decision was "a significant development in the long-running battle between gun control advocates and the gun lobby" according to The New York Times and "groundbreaking" according to The Washington Post.
