A Nevada-based gun manufacturer filed for bankruptcy after Kansas City sued the company over weapons trafficking last month, the Associated Press reported. In the chapter 7 bankruptcy petition filed on Feb. 10, Jimenez Arms listed assets of less than $50,000 and outstanding liabilities that surpass $1 million. This could pose a challenge for the city should it successfully recover compensation in its lawsuit. The city sued Jimenez in January, alleging that the gun trafficking created a public nuisance in Kansas City, which has one of America’s highest homicide rates. Mayor Quinton Lucas said that it’s the first such lawsuit filed against the gun industry in more than 10 years. The lawsuit joins — and shares many allegations with — an existing wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Alvino “Dwight” Crawford, who was killed in 2016 by a bullet from an allegedly trafficked Jimenez handgun.
Last week, a Jackson County judge denied dual motions by Jimenez to dismiss the Crawfords’ suit.
