Extinguishing The Ring Of Fire - firearms companies going bankrupt - Brief Article

Guns Magazine, March, 2000 by Massad Ayoob

The Gun-banners hope to force the firearms industry into bankruptcy with massive class-action lawsuits accusing manufacturers of being at fault for wrongful use of guns. They have met with some early success. By the end of third quarter '99, at least three small handgun manufacturers were in deep financial trouble.

Sundance Industries went bankrupt in August under Chapter Seven, which normally includes liquidation of the debtor, Paul Barrett reported in the Wall Street Journal. Davis Industries went bankrupt under Chapter Eleven, which allows reorganization of the stricken company. Lorcin Engineering had already closed its doors after having gone through bankruptcy.

All three firms are based in California. All specialized in manufacturing small, inexpensive semiautomatic pistols for the personal protection market. Handgun Control, Inc. dubbed them "Ring of Fire" companies and decried their products as "Saturday night specials." They were bough mostly by decent people who lived in high crime areas, and didn't have much money to spend on protective measures.

Typical Davis, Sundance, and Lorcin pistols sold for under $100.