Accidental Shooting Accident Lawyers in Roswell, New Mexico

If you NEED ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING LAWYERS IN ROSWELL, CONTACT OUR TEAM at Zinda law group TODAY AT (800) 863-5312

Many individuals in the United States own firearms for hunting or recreational purposes, never intending to use the gun to cause harm to another individual or to themselves. Unfortunately, accidents happen. The gun owner may not realize the gun is loaded, for example, and injure someone when attempting to dry fire. If you have been injured in an accidental shooting in NM, contact one of our knowledgeable accidental shooting lawyers in Roswell at Zinda Law Group as soon as you can.

Our team has the necessary skills and resources to fight on your behalf and to get you the compensation you deserve for your injuries. Further, we are available to our clients 24, 7. Contact Zinda Law Group as soon as possible following your accident, at (800) 863-5312, for your 100% free initial consultation. As always, you do not pay us anything unless we are successful in winning your unique case.

Gun violence statistics within the United States

Unfortunately, gun violence is still a prevalent issue within this country. In fact, there were 43,551 gun violence deaths in the year 2020 alone. Of this number, 611 were from mass shootings and approximately 19,395 were from homicides.

Mass shootings are defined as those shooting incidents which kill four or more people, not including the perpetrator. These statistics also show that guns are involved in approximately 75% of all murders and in 51% of all suicides occurring in the United States each year.

Further, a report from 2018 shows that there are more guns in United States homes than there are people. The United States population in 2018 was approximately 327 million people. The number of guns, however, stood at 393 million.

In 2020, 44% of Americans reported to have guns in the household. Within this group, 72% reported owning at least one handgun or pistol, 62% had at least one rifle, which includes semi-automatic models, and 54% owned at least one shotgun. A previous report indicates that gun owners within the United States are most likely to be male, white, and live in a rural area.

Approximately two-thirds of gun owners have more than one gun in the home. In addition to this, 40% of gun owners have at least one gun that is loaded and easily accessible to them at all times, with 63% owning at least one gun that is never locked up. Further information shows that handguns are used in an overwhelming majority of mass shootings, at 81%, and in “ordinary” shootings, being seen in 62% of homicides.

Information on the gun ownership per capita shows that Alaska was the top state for gun ownership in 2021, at 61.7%. New Mexico landed seventh on the list, at 49.9%. In 2019, the gun deaths per 100,00 residents were highest in Alaska, at 24.4%. New Mexico ranked fourth on this list, at 22.3%.

These numbers include all gun violence statistics, including accidental and intentional shootings, and the number of deaths is tragic. Fortunately, a gun owner can take many preventative measures to decrease the likelihood of shooting accidently, or to keep their firearm from landing in the wrong hands. If you have been involved in an accidental shooting incident despite taking some of these precautions, contact a Roswell injury lawyer at Zinda Law Group as soon as possible to discuss your potential injury case.

How do accidental shootings in ROSWELL occur?

Deadly firearms should always be handled with care, but they are not. For instance, in 2015, 489 people were killed in unintentional shootings in the United States alone.

Understanding how these accidents occur may help you stay more vigilant when handling a firearm. If you or someone you love were involved in one of these situations, however, call an injury attorney at Zinda Law Group as soon as you can to discuss your case.

Storing Firearms Within the Reach of Children

In 2019, gun injuries were the second-leading cause of death among children and teenagers in the United States. In total, approximately 1 out of every 3 homes with children have at least one gun. Further, the U.S. General Accounting Office has estimated that 31% of accidental deaths caused by firearms could have been prevented with child-proof safety locks and loading indicators.

Children tend to be curious about what is in their parents’ drawers or cabinets and may find guns inadvertently. They may then play with the gun without understanding that it could harm themselves or another person. If you have a gun in your house and you have children, never store the firearm somewhere a child could reach, and always install a child-proof lock on the storage location.

Handling Firearms While Drinking

Firearms should never be handled while you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. These substances greatly reduce judgment and often cause individuals to make poor decisions that they would not normally have made.

Drugs and alcohol can also cause individuals to be irrational, which may cause the inebriated individual to shoot at something other than an intended target. The individual may also lose control and drop the gun, which may result in the gun going off in an unsafe direction, harming someone.

Dropping the Firearm

Poor handling may also cause a gun to be dropped. It is possible for a firearm to go off if it is dropped on the ground. Accidental dropping may result in serious injury to the handler or to others nearby.

In addition to immediate injury, the gun could be picked up by another individual who is not experienced or otherwise should not be handling the gun. Always remain vigilant when handling a gun and be careful not to drop it.

Lack of Firearm Handling Experience

Someone who has little or no experience with a firearm may present a safety risk to themselves or others. Indeed, lack of firearm knowledge commonly goes hand-in-hand with the lack of safety rules knowledge. This may lead the individual pointing a loaded gun at someone else, discharging the firearm when they did not intend to, and failing to properly check that the firearm has been cleared of ammunition. Taking a gun safety class prior to handling a firearm can help alleviate these mistakes.

Failure to Maintain Your Firearm

Just like other pieces of machinery, guns need to be kept in proper working condition. This includes regularly cleaning, as failure to do so may lead to the gun jamming or otherwise be unreliable. In addition, an improperly kept gun may result in a misfiring, harming nearby individuals.

Always clean your gun with the proper oils or lubricants as indicated by the gun’s owners’ manual. Further, the gun’s manual will dictate the proper method for assembling and disassembling that unique firearm.

Understanding how these accidents occur may help keep you from being harmed in the future. If you are ever harmed by someone accidentally in a firearm-related incident, however, call one of our experienced accidental shooting lawyers at Zinda Law Group immediately following the accident.