CALL (800) 863-5312 to speak with accidental shooting lawyers in Dallas
Generally speaking, adult Texans are allowed to have a gun anywhere outside of places where they are specifically disallowed from carrying one. There might be many reasons why gun owners purchase their firearms, whether it be for personal safety or sporting. Most gun owners practice responsible gun safety techniques but even so, accidents can and do happen for a number of reasons. Given how powerful even the smallest of firearms can be, these accidents can be very severe, and even deadly, when they occur. Our accidental shooting lawyers in Dallas are here to help.
If you or a family member in the DFW area has been injured in an accidental shooting, call (800) 863-5312 to speak with accidental shooting lawyers in Dallas. Schedule your free case evaluation at your earliest convenience so we can begin to build for you the strongest case possible.
Types of accidental shootings
There are many ways in which shooting accidentally can end up taking place and causing major injuries. The best path forward in a potential lawsuit depends largely on exactly how the accidental shooting took place. What a victim might stand to receive in compensation for their injuries depends largely on how well they are able to negotiate with an insurance company or present the facts in a courtroom.
There are near infinite ways in which a shooting can occur, and accidental shooting lawyers can help you determine how the circumstances in your situation could impact your case moving forward.
For a free legal consultation with a accidental shooting lawyer serving Dallas, call 800-863-5312
User Error
Owning and operating a firearm safely requires an understanding of the Texas laws surrounding firearms, as well as an understanding of exactly how guns work and how they should be treated. Someone who doesn’t have a grasp on either or both of these areas can end up causing serious damage to an unintended victim.
For example, a gun user might recklessly fire a bullet into the air that comes down and causes an injury. In addition, someone might be recklessly handling a gun without the safety on or mistakenly believe that a loaded firearm is unloaded.
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Hunting Accidents
One of the main reasons that Texans own firearms is to go hunting. When done responsibly, hunting can be a perfectly safe recreational activity. However, it is important to remember at all times that any activity that involves the use of firearms can quickly become very dangerous.
Some hunting accidents occur when hunters are aiming at targets but miss and hit other people, or mistakenly believe that what they see in the trees or very tall grass are targets. Hunting accidents can also happen if a hunter is simply walking carelessly with a loaded weapon and it is accidentally discharged while the barrel is pointed either at their own feet or someone else.
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Product Defects
Even when gun owners handle their weapons by the book, there is always the risk that a gun will malfunction, leading to a tragic situation. When anyone fires a gun, they are depending on the complex mechanisms that cause a gun to fire safely to all be in good working order. They trust that they were designed properly, and that there were no manufacturing defects that happened during the process of making the components of the gun.
If a shooting accidentally occurs because of a product defect, then it is possible that the manufacturer of the gun could be the party who is responsible for the victim’s injuries. Speaking with an injury attorney about the circumstances that led to your accident is a good way to determine whom should be held liable. A personal injury lawyer can also explain what your case could be worth in terms of compensation and whether it is worth pursuing a claim for damages.
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What to do after an accidental shooting
Being in close proximity to a gun that is unexpectedly discharged is a stressful situation in and of itself. When a gun is fired and also causes injuries, this compounds the situation even further and can lead to chaos. That being said, having an understanding of what to do immediately after an accidental shooting can keep you and your family as safe as possible, and preserve any chance that you may have to seek compensation for your injuries.
Get Medical Help
With gunshot wounds, mere minutes can be the difference between life or death when it comes to receiving emergency medical attention. Getting this help as quickly as possible is critical and should be the most important priority after a gunshot. Even if your injuries don’t seem this serious, it is still important to make sure that you get medical attention as soon as possible.
For one, certain injuries might not present symptoms right away, and a doctor might be able to catch these injuries and prevent them from getting any worse. In addition, opposing attorneys may try to argue that your injuries aren’t as severe as you’re claiming if there is a long delay between the accident and a medical appointment. Getting yourself to a medical professional as soon as possible helps to defuse these types of arguments.
Report the Accident
After taking care of any immediate medical needs, report the accident to the police. This will allow you and any witnesses to give a complete report of what happened while the details of the accident are still fresh in your mind. In addition, reporting an accident to law enforcement gives them the chance to begin any criminal investigation that may be appropriate.
Document the Accident
After confirming that the accident has been reported, the next step is to make sure it is as thoroughly documented as possible. After a shooting, this includes getting lots of pictures, including photos of your injuries, photos of the scene where the shooting took place, and photos of the firearm itself. It can also include getting the contact information for anyone who may have witnessed the accident; at this stage in the process, it is always better to end up with too much information than too little.
Speak with a Dallas Injury Lawyer
Depending on how your accident occurred, the specific steps that will be required in order to effectively seek compensation can look drastically different. For example, a hunting accident that took place outside of Dallas that only led to a minor injury will involve an entirely different process than an accidental shooting in the suburbs that caused the death of a victim. Working with accidental shooting lawyers is the most effective way to determine what your options are and how to go about pursuing a claim against the party who may be liable for your injuries.
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Send Request NowWho is liable?
In order to recover compensation for your injuries, the first step is determining whom you may be able to recover compensation from. In some cases it may seem fairly simple to figure out who is at fault for causing the victim’s injuries, but it is not always a straightforward process. A personal injury lawyer can give you an idea of who could potentially be held liable for your injuries and how the identity of the liable party impacts the process of filing a claim and pursuing compensation.
The Gun Operator
If an accident happens at least in part because the person operating the gun was acting carelessly or negligently, then they will likely share in at least part of the blame. This can include situations where the gun operator was under the influence of drugs or alcohol while handling the gun, discharged the gun carelessly while walking, or even someone who pointed the gun at someone in what they thought was a joking way and accidentally discharged the firearm.
The Gun Owner
In certain circumstances, there may be liability for a gun owner who is not even present when the accidental shooting occurs. Though Texas laws do not require gun owners to lock or store their weapons to prevent unauthorized access, there could be a situation where a gun owner lends a gun to someone who is clearly not prepared to handle it for one reason or another. If this is the case and that person goes on to cause an injury by accidentally shooting someone, then the gun owner themselves could be liable for the damage that they cause.
The Gun Manufacturer
Though legislation has been passed that would protect gun manufacturers from liability in the majority of cases, it is still the case that gun manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure that the products they create and market are safe and reliable when used properly. When this does not happen according to plan due to negligence, the gun manufacturer can potentially be held liable.
For example, if a trigger on a gun is incorrectly installed during the manufacturing process and this mistake causes a misfire that leads to an injury, that gun manufacturer may be on the hook for those injuries. Speaking to a personal injury lawyer is the best way to get an understanding as to who may be liable for your injuries and how this will impact the nature of a personal injury case.
How to hold a gun manufacturer liable
If the gun operator didn’t act negligently while handling a firearm and the gun owner didn’t act negligently in allowing them access to it, then a court must look elsewhere if it is going to assign liability in an accidental shooting case. As mentioned previously, there is legislation that protects gun manufacturers in many types of cases, but they can still be held liable in certain circumstances if an injured party is able to establish one of the following three categories of liability.
Inadequate Warnings
In addition to making sure that a gun is manufactured properly and can operate smoothly, gun manufacturers also need to supply the proper warnings for any foreseeable dangers that a gun owner might face while operating their firearm. If the manufacturer fails to provide a warning for things like unloading a gun or disengaging a pin, then they could face liability if someone gets hurt while one of those things is happening.
Design Defects
Designs for some firearms may simply be unreasonably dangerous. If this is the case for the firearm that caused your injury, then there may be an argument your injury attorney can make that the firearm manufacturer is the party who is liable. Proving liability based on a design defect will often require a showing from expert testimony that there was a feasible alternative design that the gun manufacturer could and should have used to create a safer product.
Manufacturing Defects
Even when the design for a given firearm has no issues, there are many steps along the way during the manufacturing process where something can go wrong. In addition to being responsible to design a safe product, gun manufacturers are responsible to establish a reasonable manufacturing process that reliably leads to the production of safe and uniform components. When a stray piece of metal is introduced into a gun or a critical piece ends up missing, these mistakes can lead to liability for a producer.
Dallas accidental shooting lawyers will be able to analyze the facts of your case and determine whether a manufacturing defect or some other negligent party ultimately caused your injury. In short, it will take a professional investigation to determine who, if anyone, is liable for your injuries.
Damages in an accidental shooting case
By the time Dallas shooting victims have begun to wonder, “Is there an injury lawyer near me?” they are also probably starting to wonder about what their case could potentially be worth in the form of financial compensation. Dealing with gunshot injuries in North Texas can be expensive, and making wrongdoers pay for their negligence also provides an important form of societal accountability. Damages can be varied depending on the circumstances of the shooting, but they will generally fall into one of a few main categories.
Economic Damages
Economic damages are the tangible, monetary losses that a victim sustains as a result of the accidental shooting. They can include medical bills—which may total hundreds of thousands of dollars after a gunshot—any damage to property, and lost wages from being unable to go to work. Economic damages can generally be proven with a relatively high degree of certainty based upon receipts and bills.
Non-economic Damages
Non-economic damages are the pain and suffering that a victim experiences, as well as, potentially, the pain and suffering experienced by their family members. Non-economic damages are less tangible and quantifiable than economic damages, but that does not mean that they are any less real to the victim experiencing them. Generally speaking, the worse a victim’s injuries are, the more they may stand to receive in the form of non-economic damages.
Punitive Damages
The majority or Texas personal injury cases will only involve some combination of economic and non-economic damages. However, there are certain cases where a court may also order punitive damages. While the first two categories of damages are intended to make a victim whole again, punitive damages are aimed at punishing the wrongdoer and serving as a warning to others not to act in the same intentional or reckless way.
Call zinda law group today at (800) 863-5312 for a 100% free consultation with our accidental shooting lawyers in Dallas
Having to speak with accidental shooting lawyers is something that no one ever hopes to have to do. However, when you are forced into this situation through no fault of your own, it is critical to partner with the right attorney.
The Dallas injury lawyers at Zinda Law Group have the necessary experience to effectively manage your claim and give you a good shot at receiving maximum compensation for your injuries. Give us a call at (800) 863-5312 and schedule your first meeting with us, a free case evaluation. In addition, you won’t pay us any money until we win your case for you. That’s our No Win, No Fee Guarantee.
Meetings with attorneys are available by appointment only.
Our Awards
AWARDED TO JOHN C. (JACK) ZINDA BY THE NATIONAL TRIAL LAWYERS ASSOCIATION (2016-2020)
AWARDED TO JOHN C. (JACK) ZINDA (2009, 2011-2012, 2014-2021), JOE CAPUTO (2019-2021), BURGESS WILLIAMS (2019-2020), & NEIL SOLOMON (2020-2021)
AWARDED TO JACK ZINDA (2016-2020), JOE CAPUTO (2016 – 2020) & BURGESS WILLIAMS (2016-2017)
LIFETIME MEMBERS JOHN C. (JACK) ZINDA & JOE CAPUTO
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