JA Industries was an American

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s manufacturer based in

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the List of cities in Nevada, 2nd most populous city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with 317,610 residents. The city is part of the Las Vegas V ...

. The company's origins trace to 1978, with the formation of Jennings Firearms. This company eventually filed bankruptcy and subsequently reorganized as Bryco Arms. Bryco filed bankruptcy in 2003 and was subsequently purchased by Paul Jimenez, who established Jimenez Arms in August 2004. Jimenez Arms filed for

Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 U.S. Code is the bankruptcy code that governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. This is in contrast to bankruptcy under Chapter 11 and Chapter 13, which govern the process of ''re ...

in February 2020, after which its assets were transferred to a new company (also owned by Jimenez), JA Industries, which resumed operations. All firearms manufactured by JA Industries are constructed of injection-molded

Zamak ZAMAK (or Zamac, formerly trademarked as MAZAK) is an eclectic family of alloys with a base metal of zinc and alloying elements of aluminium, magnesium, and copper. Zamak alloys are part of the zinc aluminium alloy family; they are distinguished ...

, a zinc alloy. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) revoked the

federal firearms license A federal firearms license (FFL) is a license in the United States that enables an individual or a company to engage in a business pertaining to the manufacture or importation of firearms and ammunition, or the interstate and intrastate sale of ...

(FFL) of JA Industries in April 2022. Everytown purchased all unsold Jimenez Firearms in auction upon the company's liquidation and claims to have destroyed all the firearms.

History

Jennings Firearms

Jennings Firearms was founded in 1978 by Bruce Jennings, the son of

Raven Arms Raven Arms was a firearms manufacturer established in 1970 by firearms designer George Jennings. The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibiting the importation of inexpensive handguns prompted Jennings to design the MP-25, a .25 ACP, .25-caliber semi-a ...

founder George Jennings. After declaring bankruptcy, the company was renamed Bryco Arms, but the Jennings name was retained for many years even while Bryco Arms used its own brand name for firearms.

Bryco Arms

Bryco Arms was the successor company to Jennings Firearms, a U.S.

manufacturing company, based at various times in

Carson City, Nevada Carson City, officially the Carson City Consolidated Municipality, is an Independent city (United States), independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 58,63 ...

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

, and

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish language, Spanish for "coastal tableland") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including ...

. The company's most famous product, along with the Jennings J-22, was the Bryco Arms Model 38

semi-automatic pistol A semi-automatic pistol (also called a self-loading pistol, autopistol, or autoloading pistol) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridge (firearms), cartridges in its chamber (firearms), chamber afte ...

, available in both .32 ACP and .380 ACP calibers (also known as the P-38). As with Jennings, the company was owned by Bruce Jennings. Bryco Arms was one of several manufacturers of so-called

Saturday night special Saturday night special is a colloquial term in the United States and Canada for inexpensive, compact, small-caliber handguns made of poor quality metal. Sometimes known as junk guns, some states define these guns by means of composition or mate ...

firearms based in the

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

vicinity, descended from George Jennings'

. As such, the company was named by the U.S.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention ...

as one of the inexpensive firearm manufacturers known as the "Ring of Fire" companies. Bryco produced firearms variously branded as Jennings Firearms at its

facility, as well as under the brand name of Bryco Arms at its former

facility, and at its

facility. Bryco Arms declared

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

in 2003 as a result of losing a lawsuit filed in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

and which resulted in a jury award of a record $24 million judgment against Bryco Arms. The lawsuit stemmed from an injury to a then 7-year-old boy named Brandon Maxfield received from a 20-year-old family friend who was attempting to unload the

380 ACP The .380 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol), also known as .380 Auto, .380 Automatic, or 9×17mm, is a rimless, straight-walled pistol cartridge that was developed by firearms designer John Moses Browning. The cartridge headspaces on the mouth of ...

version of the Bryco Arms Model 38. The pistol discharged while the 20-year-old was attempting to clear the chamber, the gun inadvertently pointed at Maxfield. The discharge paralyzed Brandon Maxfield from the neck down. The court ruled that due to a design defect the gun had a cartridge feed problem, made evident when the safety was on and the user pulled back the slide to check the chamber or load a cartridge into the chamber. Rather than re-design the gun to correct the jamming problem, the instruction manual for the weapon was changed to require that the safety be placed in the fire position when checking the chamber or chambering a cartridge, which hid the problem from the user.

Jimenez Arms

Bryco's former factory foreman, Paul Jimenez, bought the bankrupt Bryco Arms for $510,000 in August 2004, and renamed the company Jimenez Arms. Operations resumed in

. Jimenez Arms later ceased California operations and on August 30, 2006, a license was granted for Jimenez Arms to commence operation in

, and production resumed there. Jimenez Arms declared bankruptcy amid legal issues for its business dealings with an individual later convicted of trafficking firearms.

JA Industries

In 2020 Jimenez resumed production in Henderson, Nevada under his new company name. In 2021, he came under scrutiny from the ATF due to the connections between Jimenez Arms and JA Industries.

Lawsuit

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, sued the company in 2020 for alleged

trafficking Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

. The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February 2020.

Products

* Jimenez Arms JA-22 ( .22 LR), formerly the Jennings Model J-22 * Jimenez Arms JA-25 ( .25 ACP), formerly the Jennings Model J-25 Auto * Jimenez Arms JA-32 ( .32 ACP), based on the JA-380 design * Jimenez Arms JA-380 ( .380 ACP), formerly the Bryco Model 38 * Jimenez Arms LC380 ( .380 ACP), based on the JA-Nine design * Jimenez Arms JA-Nine ( 9×19mm), also known as the JA-9

References

{{reflist

External links

https://jaindustriesllc.com/ JA Industries LLC Company Website (No longer active)
JA Industries LLC
eBay Parts Store
Brandon's Arms, About Bryco and Bruce Jennings
Firearm manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Henderson, Nevada Privately held companies based in the Las Vegas Valley