Liability If Selling Holsters And The Buyer Has Gun Misuse?

[Nhfarm50]

With the world being so crazy and the new open carry - can a person who sells a holster be held liable if the purchaser misuses a gun that was holstered in your product? Do you need to add some kind of disclaimer to the sale? I know this sounds far fetched, but the legal system has gone crazy. Thank you for any input on this topic.

[SantaFeMarie]

If someone is injured or killed there is almost always someone else who will see if there is some entity that can be blamed for it and therefore have cash extracted from them. I would say if a gun falls out of a holster you made and discharges you can guarantee that you'll get some legal probing to see if you are worth suing. Your best defense is probably your ACCOUNTANT. Make sure that you are incorporated, that you run all your business through the corporation, and that you observe all of the formalities of the corporation, no matter how silly or antiquated they seem. Respect and maintain the corporate veil, so that no lawyer can pierce it in order to get at your personal assets.

[Nhfarm50]

Thank you for that answer! Sounds like what I should do - or better yet not add that to my leather line to be on the safe side. Although I wonder if you include some kind of disclaimer on the bill of sale that states it is only for entertainment purposes and not responsible for any misuse of the product or accident or death resulting from the use of this product??? My leather shop runs under our business Corp and don't want to endanger that!

[SantaFeMarie]

Very difficult to sell a holster for a gun and then claim that the object was never intended to hold a gun. And the problem with the "misuse" defense is that you are left having to prove that your customer did not use it correctly.

[Nhfarm50]

Thanks so much for your advise and input! It is greatly appreciated!

[kevinp]

I know it not the same but this is the reason we stopped selling knives and pouches, it was too much hassle and there is always that one person who will make a claim. we had one customer who cut himself badly with the knife we sold him within hours of buying it. even though he was told it was razor sharp and to be careful. We also had adults buying the knives and then giving them to their children at the stall, even after telling them it was illegal for the child to have a knife, just too much hassle so we stopped

[Nhfarm50]

Thanks - I guess that I will not even risk it!

[OLDNSLOW]

I think it would be a far stretch for someone to go after the holster maker for someone using a gun, if a gun was to discharge after falling out of a holster it could be claimed that the holster was a fault, however the gun mfg has much deeper pockets than the holster maker does in most cases. If were to be held that maker of the holster of the holster was liable can you imagine how few would actually be making them for fear of being held liable. This sort of thinking falls right in to the hands of the anti gun people as another way to make people fear guns, the people that carry them, so on and so forth, if your looking for a better answer I am sure that in the state you live in there is a gun owners website with knowledgeable people that can lend a word to the conversation. Like in California there is Cal Gun owners, in Tennessee there is TGO.com or Tennessee gun owners, there are several law enforcement, lawyers that participate on those websites than would have a much greater understanding of the situation. I mean think about it in another term, if a saddle maker feared being sued for everyone that has fallen off of a horse there might not be many saddle makers, as well as many other commodities made. The makers of knife sheaths would not be making them out of fear of being sued because someone carried a knife and the knife was used to commit a violent crime.

[SantaFeMarie]

Two scenarios:

1) gun falls out of a holster

2) rider falls out of a saddle

In the first, the holster is automatically suspect in a way that the saddle is not in the second.

Two more scenarios:

1) gun falls out of a holster and injures someone

2) man pulls a knife out of a sheath and injures someone.

Again, in the first, the holster is automatically suspect in a way that the sheath is not in the second.

It isn't anti-gun or fear mongering to say if a gun falls out of a holster you made, there might be consequences for you, and therefore you had better prepare for that possibility. The accident might be entirely the fault of the gun owner - but chances are very good he's going to claim he used it exactly as instructed/intended. And yes, the gun manufacturer has deeper pockets. But:

1) there is nothing to stop the lawyers from suing both the holster make and the gun manufacturer;

2) the gun manufacturer has an easier time making the "misuse" defense: guns aren't supposed to be dropped; and

3) the gun manufacturer is going to use its deeper pockets to try to pin the blame on the little guy - the holster maker.

By all means, go out and get advice. But don't consult a lawyer because he is a gun enthusiast: consult a lawyer that knows about torts. You want good advice, not ideologically-motived advice given out for free.