liability insurance on guns sold? Ridiculous

[Owen Sparks]

I stopped by a pawnshop down the street from where I work as I occasionally do to see what was in the gun rack. I started talking to the owner about this and that and he was complaining about the high cost of insurance.

He said that the liability insurance on the guns was high. Upon further query he revealed that he had to carry a liability insurance policy specifically on guns in case one he sold was used to harm someone who could in turn sue him. I asked how he could possibly be held responsible for a legally transfered firearm once it went out the door where he no longer had control over it.

He said that lawyers are staring to go after gun dealers. As I looked out the window at the neighboring businesses, I asked; Does the liquor store next door carry liability insurance in case somebody gets drunk on their whiskey and causes an accident? Suppose the big GM dealership across the street sold him the car that he crashed when he was drunk?
How about the drug store down on the corner? What if some of the drugs they sell fall into the wrong hands and caused some kid to get high and have a wreck? And what about that rack of tools on the wall, couldn't that crow bar be used by a burglar to break into a home? Couldn't that rope be used by a kidnapper or rapist to tie up his victim? Do you carry liability insurance on those?

He just shook his head.

 

[Hoxviii]

Thing is, all of those people you named could be sued if something they sold or supplied was used by the end user to do harm to themselves or others.

In a civil suit, every person and company possibly involved is sued- they're looking for the deepest pockets possible and a sympathetic jury.

 

[KBintheSLC]

Does the liquor store next door carry liability insurance in case somebody gets drunk on their whiskey and causes an accident?

Probably not... reckless/irresponsible/distracted/intoxicated driving is just socially acceptable murder. We don't call it murder because it is more common and less direct than holding a "deadly weapon" in your hands and consciously killing someone. What defines a "deadly weapon" is anybodies guess. I assume that if my pea shooting .32 qualifies, then the guy doing 90 in his Escalade while chatting on his cell ought to qualify as well.

Drunk driving also involves a conscious decision before the fact... AKA premeditation. And the result is the same... dead people... far more than from gun related injuries.

So I call it first degree murder... a felony conviction that should permanently revoke your right to drive forever.

Ha Ha... dream on. A slap on the wrists and 3 years of high insurance rates and you are back on the road.

 

[Jim K]

Just obeying the law is not enough in a civil suit, where law-abiding people are often victims of greedy lawyers, corrupt judges and politically correct juries.

Example: A motorist goes through a green light and hits a child who darts into the street. Accident? Not if the child is a minority group member and the motorist is not.

Then, it will become an issue in "the community" and cries to crucify the motorist will inevitably lead to a lawsuit, with the plaintiff's lawyer, the judge, the jury, and all the witnesses members of the minority group. The motorist doesn't have a chance.

Jim