Local news reports
The family of a Springfield, Vt., man who died when a revolver he accidentally dropped fired a bullet that struck him in the head has sued the shop where he purchased the weapon and several gun manufacturers, claiming a faulty safety mechanism allowed the discharge.
The estate of Edward Davis, 39, who died in 2010 while trying to show the revolver to his mother, is seeking compensation from the Alstead Gun Shop and various firearms companies, alleging he was sold a defective product.In an interview, Ed Van Dorn, the Davis family’s attorney, said that Davis is not to blame for the incident. Van Dorn said it is relatively common for people to drop guns — he cited a New Hampshire lawmaker who dropped his concealed firearm during a legislative hearing in 2012 — without having them fire.The lawsuit features 10 claims, including negligence, breach of warranty and misrepresentation of the gun’s safety, and focuses on a hammer block that failed to prevent the gun from firing. The gun has been identified in court papers as a Uberti Regulator SAA Revolver, which was modeled on old Colt revolvers, Van Dorn said.
A dropped gun is always an interesting story. I love the way gun-rights fanatics insist that modern guns cannot fire when dropped. I guess this one doesn't count being a replica of an older model.
Another interesting angle is the shirking of responsibility that the law suit implies.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
Mikeb, I'm not going to dig back through the comments to prove this to you, but I've told you before that weapons of the design shown here are to be carried with the top chamber empty. Doesn't anyone watch John Wayne movies any more?
ReplyDeleteThat's a reproduction of the Colt Single Action Army revolver. The hammer rests on the chamber, and there's no mechanism to keep it off the primer if there's a live round loaded. Those old six shooters were actually five shooters--at least typically or when carried by sane people.
The manual of every such gun sold today that I've seen comes with ample warnings about this. If there's any justice in this world, this case will be thrown out with a rebuke to the plaintiffs and the possibility of disciplinary action against the attorney who was corrupt enough to suggest bringing this suit in the first place.
Mike: "I guess this one doesn't count being a replica of an older model."
ReplyDeleteYep. SAA is not a "modern" gun design.