Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Lightened trigger on CCW a legal liability?

The_Dunedan · 08-30-2010, 02:21 PM

The problem is that, while suits like this are rare, they do happen and they are ruinously expensive to defend against. Being a -civil- as opposed to -criminal- case, all the Plaintiff has to do is show the Judge and Jury (any percentage of which may be anti-gun, anti-self-defense, ignorant or simply stupid) that the preponderance of the evidence indicates that what the Plaintiff alleges happened. This means that the chance of losing is -much- higher, and consequently demands a much greater level of "firepower" to defeat.

Therefore, if the Plaintiff alleges that Walt is a psychopath who willingly caused the wrongful death of their relative (or the wrongful injury of their own Persons), and that Walt owes them money because of this, all they have to do is convince most of the Jury (or the Judge) through the use of "evidence" such as weapon type, ammo type or calibre, etc. If you happen to have a Judge or Jury filled with Brady Campaign bullshit (or the Plaintiff brings in the Brady Bunch to give "expert testimony" and the J/J buy it) this can be -very- damaging.

However, it's very rare for such a suit to go the Plaintiff's way. The -big- problem is the cost of defending onesself, which can be astronomical. This is made worse by a number of factors:
1: Civil lawyers frequently -initiate- suits based on a "You don't win, you don't owe us anything" contract. The lawyer hired by the Defense -is- getting paid, no matter what happens, unless you find one nice enough to go Pro Bono on you. If -they- lose, they lose nothing. If -you- lose, you lose everything...and even if you win, you -still- owe some asshole $300/hr for all that work. Adds up fast.
2: The VPC, the Brady Bunch, and other equally noisome groups frequently pay the legal fees of such lawsuits, especially if the gun's manufacturer is -also- being sued. Nobody, especially not the fabulously rich yet somehow equally useless and worthless NRA, is gonna cover a gunowner's ass.

What this adds up to is a punitive lawsuit. Even if the Plaintiffs lose, they may not actually be losing anything, while the shooter/gunowner has lost their home and life's savings defending themself. And this, frankly, is -exactly- what the Plaintiffs are usually hoping for.

08-30-2010, 02:21 PM	#6 (permalink)
The_Dunedan Junkie	The problem is that, while suits like this are rare, they do happen and they are ruinously expensive to defend against. Being a -civil- as opposed to -criminal- case, all the Plaintiff has to do is show the Judge and Jury (any percentage of which may be anti-gun, anti-self-defense, ignorant or simply stupid) that the preponderance of the evidence indicates that what the Plaintiff alleges happened. This means that the chance of losing is -much- higher, and consequently demands a much greater level of "firepower" to defeat. Therefore, if the Plaintiff alleges that Walt is a psychopath who willingly caused the wrongful death of their relative (or the wrongful injury of their own Persons), and that Walt owes them money because of this, all they have to do is convince most of the Jury (or the Judge) through the use of "evidence" such as weapon type, ammo type or calibre, etc. If you happen to have a Judge or Jury filled with Brady Campaign bullshit (or the Plaintiff brings in the Brady Bunch to give "expert testimony" and the J/J buy it) this can be -very- damaging. However, it's very rare for such a suit to go the Plaintiff's way. The -big- problem is the cost of defending onesself, which can be astronomical. This is made worse by a number of factors: 1: Civil lawyers frequently -initiate- suits based on a "You don't win, you don't owe us anything" contract. The lawyer hired by the Defense -is- getting paid, no matter what happens, unless you find one nice enough to go Pro Bono on you. If -they- lose, they lose nothing. If -you- lose, you lose everything...and even if you win, you -still- owe some asshole $300/hr for all that work. Adds up fast. 2: The VPC, the Brady Bunch, and other equally noisome groups frequently pay the legal fees of such lawsuits, especially if the gun's manufacturer is -also- being sued. Nobody, especially not the fabulously rich yet somehow equally useless and worthless NRA, is gonna cover a gunowner's ass. What this adds up to is a punitive lawsuit. Even if the Plaintiffs lose, they may not actually be losing anything, while the shooter/gunowner has lost their home and life's savings defending themself. And this, frankly, is -exactly- what the Plaintiffs are usually hoping for.