17. Commitments and Contingencies

Litigation

We are a defendant in three product liability cases and are aware of 12 other product liability claims, primarily alleging defective product design, defective manufacturing, or failure to provide adequate warnings. In addition, we are a co-defendant in a case filed on August 27, 1999 by the city of Gary, Indiana against numerous firearm manufacturers, distributors, and dealers seeking to recover damages allegedly arising out of the misuse of firearms by third parties. We believe that the various allegations as described above are unfounded, and, in addition, that any accident and any results from them were due to negligence or misuse of the firearm by the claimant or a third party.

In addition, we are involved in lawsuits, claims, investigations, and proceedings, including commercial, environmental, and employment matters, which arise in the ordinary course of business.

The relief sought in individual cases primarily includes compensatory and, sometimes, punitive damages. Certain of the cases and claims seek unspecified compensatory or punitive damages. In others, compensatory damages sought may range from less than $75,000 to approximately $350,000. In our experience, initial demands do not generally bear a reasonable relationship to the facts and circumstances of a particular matter. We believe that our accruals for product liability cases and claims, as described below, are a reasonable quantitative measure of the cost to us of product liability cases and claims.

We are vigorously defending ourselves in the lawsuits to which we are subject. An unfavorable outcome or prolonged litigation could harm our business. Litigation of this nature also is expensive and time consuming and diverts the time and attention of our management.

We monitor the status of known claims and the related product liability accrual, which includes amounts for defense costs for asserted and unasserted claims. After consultation with litigation counsel and the review of the merit of each claim, we have concluded that we are unable to reasonably estimate the probability or the estimated range of reasonably possible losses related to material adverse judgments related to such claims and, therefore, we have not accrued for any such judgments. In the future, should we determine that a loss (or an additional loss in excess of our accrual) is at least reasonably possible and material, we would then disclose an estimate of the possible loss or range of loss, if such estimate could be made, or disclose that an estimate could not be made. We believe that we have provided adequate accruals for defense costs.

For the fiscal years ended April 30, 2017, 2016, and 2015, we paid $254,000, $264,000, and $252,000, respectively, in defense and administrative costs relative to product liability and municipal litigation. In addition, we spent an aggregate of $209,000, $55,000, and $177,000, respectively, in those fiscal years in settlement fees related to product liability cases.

We have recorded our liability for defense costs before consideration for reimbursement from insurance carriers. We have also recorded the amount due as reimbursement under existing policies from the insurance carriers as a receivable shown in other current assets and other assets. During the year ended April 30, 2016, we received a $1.8 million insurance recovery, which was recorded in general and administrative expenses, as a result of an insurance settlement agreement for partial reimbursement of defense costs we incurred in prior fiscal years related to our resolved government investigation.

In fiscal 2017, we recognized a gain from changes in product liability provisions of $364,000. In fiscal 2016 and 2015, we recorded expense of $299,000, and $183,000, respectively, to recognize changes in our product liability and municipal litigation liability.

At this time, an estimated range of reasonably possible additional losses relating to unfavorable outcomes cannot be made.

Environmental Remediation

We are subject to numerous federal, state, and local laws and regulations that regulate the health and safety of our workforce, including, but not limited to, those regulations monitored by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration , or OSHA, the National Fire Protection Association, and the Department of Public Health. Though not exhaustive, examples of applicable regulations include confined space safety, walking and working surfaces, machine guarding, and life safety.

We are also subject to numerous federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations concerning, among other things, emissions in the air, discharges to land, surface, subsurface strata and water and the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes and other materials. These laws have require us to make significant expenditures of both a capital and expense nature. Several of the more significant federal laws applicable to our operations include the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or CERCLA, and the Solid Waste Disposal Act, as amended by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

We have in place programs and personnel to monitor compliance with various federal, state, and local environmental regulations. In the normal course of our manufacturing operations, we are subject to governmental proceedings and orders pertaining to waste disposal, air emissions, and water discharges into the environment. We fund our environmental costs through cash flows from operations. We believe that we are in compliance with applicable environmental regulations in all material respects.

We are required to remediate hazardous waste at our facilities. Currently, we own a designated site in Springfield, Massachusetts that contains two release areas, which are the focus of remediation projects as part of the Massachusetts Contingency Plan, or MCP. The MCP provides a structured environment for the voluntary remediation of regulated releases. We may be required to remove hazardous waste or remediate the alleged effects of hazardous substances on the environment associated with past disposal practices at sites not owned by us. We have received notice that we are a potentially responsible party from the Environmental Protection Agency and/or individual states under CERCLA or a state equivalent at two sites.

As of April 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively, we had recorded $730,000 and $694,000 of the environmental reserve in non-current liabilities. We have calculated the net present value of the environmental reserve to be equal to the carrying value of the liability recorded on our books. Our estimate of these costs is based upon currently enacted laws and regulations, currently available facts, experience in remediation efforts, existing technology, and the ability of other potentially responsible parties or contractually liable parties to pay the allocated portions of any environmental obligations.

When the available information is sufficient to estimate the amount of liability, that estimate has been used, when the information is only sufficient to establish a range of probable liability and no point within the range is more likely than any other, the lower end of the range has been used. We may not have insurance coverage for our environmental remediation costs. We have not recognized any gains from probable recoveries or other gain contingencies. The environmental reserve was calculated using undiscounted amounts based on independent environmental remediation reports obtained.

Based on information known to us, we do not expect current environmental regulations or environmental proceedings and claims to have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. However, it is not possible to predict with certainty the impact on us of future environmental compliance requirements or of the cost of resolution of future environmental health and safety proceedings and claims, in part because the scope of the remedies that may be required is not certain, liability under federal environmental laws is joint and several in nature, and environmental laws and regulations are subject to modification and changes in interpretation. There can be no assurance that additional or changing environmental regulation will not become more burdensome in the future and that any such development would not have a material adverse effect on our company.

Contracts

Employment Agreements — We have employment, severance, and change of control agreements with certain officers and managers.

Other Agreements — We have distribution agreements with various third parties in the ordinary course of business.

Rental Leases

The following summarizes our operating leases for office and/or manufacturing space:

Location of Lease		Expiration Date
Wilsonville, Oregon		October 31, 2017
Scottsdale, Arizona		February 28, 2018
Somersworth, New Hampshire		June 30, 2018
Bentonville, Arkansas		September 25, 2018
Jacksonville, Florida		December 31, 2018
Columbia, Missouri		April 30, 2023
Deep River, Connecticut		May 4, 2024

We also lease machinery, photocopiers, and vehicles for our national sales force with various expiration dates.

As of April 30, 2017, the lease commitments were as follows (in thousands):

For the Year Ending April 30,	Amount
2018	$	3,415
2019		2,886
2020		2,220
2021		2,108
2022		1,891
Thereafter		2,748
	$	15,268

Rent expense in the fiscal years ended April 30, 2017, 2016, and 2015 was $4.4 million, $4.1 million, and $3.3 million, respectively.