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Orange County's last "ring of fire" handgun maker has filed for bankruptcy after a Northern California jury found Costa Mesa's Bryco Arms and its Nevada distributor partly liable in a $50 million gun-injury verdict.
Bruce Jennings, founder of Bryco and Carson City, Nev.-based distributor B. L. Jennings, also was found personally liable for making defective firearms.
Jennings filed bankruptcy himself, along with his companies.
The verdict stemmed from the 1994 accidental shooting of Brandon Maxfield, now 16 and a quadriplegic.
A family friend shot Maxfield using a Bryco .38-caliber handgun.
Maxfield's parents, the shooter and the owner of the pawnshop where the gun was bought also were found partly liable.
The ruling is a hit to gunmakers, who so far have fended off most lawsuits seeking to hold them responsible for deaths and injuries caused by their products.
Bryco and other gunmakers face more than 20 lawsuits from cities and other plaintiffs.
Lawyers in the Maxfield case argued Bryco's guns, known as Saturday night specials, were poorly designed and lacked safety features that could have prevented the boy's shooting.
Bryco, which employs about 35 people in Costa Mesa, is one of six companies making...