[Molon Labe]

We have a shooting range in our side yard. I occasionally have friends come over for an afternoon of target practice. While I sincerely trust all of them, I am still concerned about liability issues in the case there's an accident.

Could I be sued even if I did nothing that was considered negligent? Is there anything I should do to help protect myself?

[Barbara]

Yes. Insurance.

[Blue Line]

two words: Umbrella Policy

If a lawyer is involved your gonna get sued not matter what, at least as I come to believe these days. The more people they sue the more money they make. I read an article today about a family in Michigan I think that were all out to the range shooting and a four year old wandered behind the target area and killed by someone in the group. If someone were injured at your range I bet all friendships would be off in lieu of the almighty dollar. Do you have them sign a liability waiver? If I was going to do this often with other people, I'd get a good legal opinion from a respected lawyer in your area.

This probably a question for some of our internet barristers to answer.

my .02

[Molon Labe]

We have homeowner's insurance and an unbrella policy. I'm just wondering if I should make each shooter sign a "no harm agreement" or something like that. If it's not necessary I won't do it, as I suspect some people would feel I don't trust them if I made them sign such a thing.

[WT]

You are responsible for the safety of people on your property. Very old law.

[Steve in PA]

I have always wanted a nice piece of land where several friends and family members and I can get together and do some shooting.

I don't have to worry about my family or friends suing me, but I would probably have anyone shooting sign a waiver. Kind of what some people do who allow hunting on their property.

Insurance is never a bad thing either.

[Molon Labe]

I can come up with a waiver and have everyone sign it. But I see two problems in doing so:

1. If I have insurance, and if I am not negligent, is a waiver even necessary?

2. I've known most of these people for many years, I trust them, and consider all to be my friends. If I suddenly make them sign a waiver, they may feel I don't trust them.

[MillCreek]

I do insurance and liability for a living; albeit on the defense side of medical malpractice cases. I would do two things:

1. Have a local lawyer draw up a hold harmless/indemnification/liability waiver. Your local lawyer will know exactly what this is, and can draft it in accordance with your state laws on the subject. Only allow your friends to use your range after they sign it. Have them sign two copies: they keep one and you keep one.

2. Your homeowners/umbrella policy probably does not cover the operation of a private shooting range, even though you do not charge money. I would contact your insurance agent (or whomever you bought the insurance through) and ask them about the question of coverage. If the insurance company says there is coverage, ask them to write you a letter confirming this. If the insurance company says there is no coverage, ask your agent to look for coverage for you. I suspect it may be pretty pricey, if it is available at all. If your homeowners insurance company did not previously know about the shooting range, they may want to either increase the premium or cancel the policy.

Other gratuitous pieces of advice that you did not ask or pay for, but here they are nonetheless!

A. Even if they are your long-term friends and you believe you didn't do anything wrong or negligent, or were not even there when the accident occurred, if an accident occurs, you will in all likelihood be sued. I don't want to sound cynical, but I have done this line of work for 21 years now, and strange things happen to friendships when accidents occur or someone thinks there is money to be had. Any personal injury lawyer can tell you stories about suing someone who thought they were not negligent, but the jury felt differently, as they awarded a large verdict. Your opinion as to negligence really means nothing. It is the opinion of the 12 people in the jury box that counts.

B. Your liability waiver may not be legally enforceable (your local lawyer can comment on this) but it can at least create a mindset of not suing, if it comes to that. I will say that in my profession, liability waivers are generally not worth the paper they are printed on. But your state may have different laws than mine. Bear in mind that a parent may not be able to waive liability for their children. So if a child is injured, even if a liability waiver had been signed, it will probably be useless.

C. If it turns out that a liability waiver is not enforceable, and you cannot obtain insurance, you will need to think long and hard if you want to allow your friends to use the range. If anything should happen to your friends on the range, God forbid, then all of your personal assets are at risk for the ensuing lawsuit: your house, your car, your personal property, your bank accounts, your future earnings and perhaps your retirement plan or assets. Only you can ask yourself if it is worth it.

If you have any followup questions, please post and I will try to help. Please bear in mind that I can speak only in generalities, since I am not a lawyer, and am certainly not familiar with the liability or insurance coverage laws in your jurisdiction. But I can speak in general terms about how these sort of cases are typically viewed or how insurance policies are interpreted. Your best advice will be to consult with your local lawyer and insurance agent. Tell them I said hello.

But the bottom line is, I think that as of this moment, you face potential liability that is probably not covered by insurance. I know that if I was in your shoes, I would not allow my friends to use the range until the issue of insurance coverage or liability waivers was sorted out. But I freely admit that my opinion on such matters is biased because of what I do for a living.

[shoot870p]

yes!!!
your property is your responsibility along with your friends as wellas the uninvited that may "slip"in to use your range while you are away.
protect yourself and your family. insure to the max you can. keep what is yours yours and try not to give it away.

[P95Carry]

MillCreek - a most valuable post - I am only on the outside looking in here but from where I am standing - you advice would seem most useful and worthy of consideration. :)

Oh - the wonderful litigious society in which we live! :rolleyes:

[Standing Wolf]

I'm just wondering if I should make each shooter sign a "no harm agreement" or something like that.

I would. I believe I'd follow MillCreek's advice: there are just too many assault lawyers running around on the loose.

[jeff-10]

Would a waiver be worth the paper it was written on? I have my doubts, but I am sure one of the lawyers who post here could answer that question.

[Spot77]

If a friend was generous enough to let me shoot on his/her land, I would not feel the least bit slighted at being asked to sign a waiver.


Now, if I was the ONLY person asked to sign a waiver........ :uhoh:

[crawfish]

Somethings that haven’t been mentioned yet is the possible reaction of your mortgage holder at the notification that you are seeking additional insurance as protection from accidents on your shooting range. They could get rid of their possible liability by selling your mortgage to a company that deals in high-risk properties. When/if that happens you APR will sky rocket. The other thing you need to worry about is having an attractive nuisance (your shooting range) on your property. By virtue of it being there, being used by persons when you are not there, and being public knowledge that it is there it is now considered an attractive nuisance just like a swimming pool.
My range is behind two high fences and a locked gate. It is private, for family and invited guest only. I own my property outright so there are no mortgage problems but I still have a $3M rider on the liability part on my farm insurance. Unless you take steps to put in place something that a “reasonable person” would perceive as a deterrent to access to your range the attractive nuisance thing is just waiting to bite you in the butt.

[PinnedAndRecessed]

should make each shooter sign a "no harm agreement" or something like that

Varies from state to state but such an agreement does not release you from liability. The only way to truly protect yourself would be to not allow them to shoot on your land. But you would actually have to ask yourself how probable it is somebody is going to get hurt in the first place. Not likely.

What you would be worried about more than the above scenario would be someone coming on your property while you were not at home. If they, then, injured themselves shooting, a decent attorney could surmise that since the property was a shooting range, then they had a right to be there.

The possibilities are endless.

[hillbilly]

I have people over all the time to shoot.

Here's how I am covered.

1) I'm an NRA certified handgun instructor.

2) As such a certified handgun instructor, I'm eligible for the relatively cheap "instructor insurance" programs offered by the NRA.

Go get an NRA instructor certification. It'll be fun, and is relatively painless.

Then, get yourself some NRA instructor insurance.

And yes, anyone who is paying me money for any sort of training or range time does sign a legal waiver.

My waiver is available at my website, if you want to see what one looks like.

http://www.possumpistol.com


hillbilly

[Jax]

Hillbilly,

Good advice - However, I believe that in order for you to be able to count on the insurance company's assistance, you must follow *all* NRA instructor guidelines.

For example:

NRA approved targets only - no silhouettes
No drawing from the holster - start from low ready only
No IDPA or IPSC type shooting

If/when you deviate from the above, you are taking your liability into your own hands because you are not following the guidelines.

I may be wrong - but that is what I currently understand to be the case.

Jax

[Andrew Rothman]

I read an article today about a family in Michigan I think that were all out to the range shooting and a four year old wandered behind the target area and killed by someone in the group.

Minnesota.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=140863

[halvey]

I don't have to worry about my family or friends suing me, but I would probably have anyone shooting sign a waiver. Kind of what some people do who allow hunting on their property. Depends on the state as far as hunting though. In Minnesota, if you give permission to hunt, you have no liability.

[SteveS]

If you really wanted to cover yourself, it might be worth it to have an attorney in your state help you out. Many states have laws that limit the liability of ranges. I am not sure what you would have to do to your "range" to fall under this protection.

FWIW, under common law, an owner has a fairly limited duty to guests. I am not saying that you can't get sued, just that it might not be as easy as you think.

[MillCreek]

I was intrigued by the suggestion above about some possible insurance coverage via a NRA instructor insurance program. And since insurance and liability is what I do for a living, I thought I would check this out.

NRA instructor insurance plan description (http://www.locktonrisk.com/nrains/instructor.asp) is a webpage providing a capsule description of this insurance plan. Generally speaking, it is a good idea to read the entire policy to find out what is and is not covered. However, from reading the description of coverage and the policy limits, I strongly suspect that this coverage would be inadequate for the original poster. Most notable is this: 'Coverage for bodily injury and/or property damage caused while acting as an instructor during the lesson.' This means that there will only be coverage if the property owner is there as an instructor during all shooting sessions and giving actual formal instruction to students and possibly only if the instructor personally causes bodily injury or property damage. You will have a far better chance of proving that you were giving actual instruction to actual students if you charge them money. I am not at all sure if this insurance would apply if a fellow shooter 'student' caused personal injury or property damage. One would definitely have to read the policy to see if this would be covered.

I am afraid that if an accident happened, and the insurance company investigates only to discover that you were not on site, or were not charging a fee, they could very well take the position that this was not an actual instructor situation, and would deny coverage.

Not to mention that the available policy limits of $ 100 K and $ 250 K seem awfully low to me, unless you purchased the instructor plus package, which offers higher policy limits of $ 1 M. The additional higher limits comes with professional liability coverage; i.e.: the instructor being sued personally for providing negligent training.

So although this could be better than nothing, for the situation described by the original poster, I doubt if this will meet his needs and provide him adequate protection.

PS: Edited to add the part about the professional liability coverage for the instructor.

[M2 Carbine]

I used to allow most everyone to shoot on my range but in this sue crazy society we live in today I'm pretty selective today. :(