ATF Shuts Down Gunmaker After Suit By Anti-Gun Group

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) revoked a Nevada firearm manufacturer’s license following litigation from an anti-gun organization and two states challenging the agency’s decision to reinstate the gunmaker’s license, multiple outlets reported.

“ATF hereby reports that, on March 24, 2022, it sent JA Industries a notice of revocation of its firearms license,” a March 30 letter from the ATF said. The letter came after a lawsuit brought by the city of Kansas City, Missouri, and the state of Illinois as well as Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun-control group partly founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other mayors, challenged the ATF’s decision to grant a license to JA Industries, USA Today reported.

The company, originally known as Jimenez Arms, made affordable handguns until filing for bankruptcy in 2020 on the heels of a lawsuit in which Kansas City claimed it was a public nuisance due to its alleged contribution to firearms trafficking, Newsweek reported. It later reincorporated as JA Industries and was reissued its license by the ATF.

Everytown then followed up with a 2021 lawsuit against the ATF over its decision to grant the license to JA Industries, claiming that due to its alleged violations of the Gun Control Act, the gunmaker was ineligible to be licensed.

“I think this is an undisputed important step toward shutting down a manufacturer that flouted federal law and facilitated gun trafficking,” John Feinblatt, president of Everytown, told USA Today. “It shouldn’t have taken three lawsuits to get ATF to do its job. I can only hope this marks a beginning of a new era at ATF where it starts to serve as a watchdog of the American people rather than a lapdog to the gun industry.”

“Lives will be saved as a result of this decision, and it should serve as a wake-up call for those in the industry who put profit over public safety,” Alla Lefkowitz, Senior Director of Affirmative Litigation at Everytown Law, said in a release by the gun-control group.

Gun writer Lee Williams tweeted, “ATF, Everytown hound Jimenez Arms out of business.”

Neither the ATF nor JA Industries responded to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.