Range safety and legal liability

Sparks

There's been a lot of complaints posted here over the last few years about the things required of ranges for range safety these days, with all the baffles and berms and expenses that weren't needed for the last century or two (and I've laughed at one or two things in the range standards that weren't fit for purpose myself). From Dallas last week, comes a counterpoint argument to all that:

Man who was struck by stray bullet in Rowlett awarded more than $900k in lawsuit

A former Rowlett homeowner who was struck by a stray bullet while working in his yard was awarded more than $900,000 Thursday in a lawsuit against a nearby gun range [...] a little more than a mile away.
[...]
The gun range was established more than 40 years ago before neighborhoods were developed in that area of northeast Dallas County.

The city of Rowlett had just settled an earlier case against the range taken on behalf of two homeowners whose houses were struck by stray rounds from the range - that settlement was for additional safety precautions to be taken on the range rather than cash.

I'll grant you, the US is the most litigious place on earth, but we're in second place - and we're a damn sight less friendly towards firearms than Texas is. If that case had happened here, the penalty for the range operator might well have been far higher...

So if you're still annoyed at those backstops and berms and baffles (or worse, if the cost and effort of building them is still hurting), it might be some cold comfort to know that the alternative is both real and worse...

yubabill1

same thing happened on curragh army range about 25 years ago.
they put red flags/sentries out, but can't stop public using a road way at the back.
stray round hit a guy travelling in a van. non-lethal, don't think there was any litigation.
Fatal accidents have happened on army ranges here, but that's probably another discussion for another day.

Sikamick

Sparks you being a knowledgeable man may be able to answer this.

1 . How many people in ROI have been killed / injured in Hunting accidents in the last 40 years.

2 . Before range authorisation came in, how many people in Target shooting were killed / injured in shooting accidents on ranges in the last 40 years in the ROI.


3 . After range authorisation came in, how many people in Target shooting were killed / injured in shooting accidents on ranges in the last 40 years in the ROI.


Sikamick

Sparks

Sikamick wrote: »

Sparks you being a knowledgeable man may be able to answer this.

You know these as well as I do Sika...

1 . How many people in ROI have been killed / injured in Hunting accidents in the last 40 years.

A lot of injuries. I don't have the exact numbers, but talk to pretty much anyone in a gun club over a pint and they'll all be able to tell you of incidents, from people shooting each others with blanks as a joke that went horribly wrong to people shooting through hedges through to two incidents that you can find with a search on here of two hunters about a month apart who missed their quarry and hit passersby over a mile away (a woman in a shopping center car park in one case and a kid in a schoolyard up north in the other).

2 . Before range authorisation came in, how many people in Target shooting were killed / injured in shooting accidents on ranges in the last 40 years in the ROI.

In formal target shooting, none since 1840 or so, if you don't count breaking an ankle in a rabbit hole while walking forward. In informal target shooting I only know of the one fatality, when lads shooting cans off a wall didn't exercise good range discipline and stop shooting while changing targets.

3 . After range authorisation came in, how many people in Target shooting were killed / injured in shooting accidents on ranges in the last 40 years in the ROI.

No deaths, one injury that I know of, from a ricochet.

pedroeibar1

Interesting to see that the standard of journalism in Texas is on par with that in Ireland, even if the tone of commentators there is more gun-friendly. The article is contradictory as it talks about an ‘award’ and a ‘settlement’. (An award can be appealed, a settlement is a consensual agreement).
Contrary to what many people in Ireland believe, the mega-buck awards in US courts are made by dimwit juries, always are appealed and inevitably settled for a fraction of the original amount – for example the infamous $3 million award for the spilled McDonalds coffee case was eventually settled for about €500k and the lawyers got a large chunk out of that, in addition to their usual fees on earlier trials.
I have some sympathy for the range/club owners in question, as the city ‘grew’ out to and around their premises. There always will be an idiot on a range or in the field.

EWQuinn

The article indicates case decided by a judge. City and range owner have agreed upon safety improvements, a good thing if the item about 2 hits on houses 2 hours apart is true. Every so often you see a story about a range poorly designed or somewhat lax in standards and sometimes an incident, but they are starting to be few and far between. The NRA publishes a design guide for ranges and several states cite or rely upon it in state statute for design standards.

Sometimes someone will have a stray bullet hit a house or barn and blame it on a range, but in actuality it comes from the surrounding area and not the range, or is trumped up by a disgruntled land owner.

Our range is located and oriented in a place where houses will never go. We just raised the backstop berms, and include a very detailed safety class prior to membership. 2-3 law enforcement organizations use our facilities. However as stated nothing is 100% idiot proof.