Can You Sue a Gun Range for Injury in New York?

Going to a gun range can be a great way to spend a few hours enjoying your hobby. If you are injured at a gun range, you might not be aware of your legal options.

That is where our attorneys can step in and help you determine who you can sue for your injuries. Gun ranges have a duty of care to provide a safe environment for shooters and enforce state and federal gun rules while operating. If you were injured through no fault of your own, it is likely the gun range was negligent. You will also likely still be able to file a lawsuit even if you signed a waiver. Waivers only exclude a gun range from your negligent conduct. It will not shield a range from its own carelessness. Our attorneys can also help you determine if other parties should be sued, such as your firearm manufacturer.

For a free case evaluation with our New York personal injury attorneys, contact The Carrion Law Firm at (718) 841-0083.

Is it Possible to Sue a Gun Range for Injuries Suffered in New York?

Outside of hunting season, a gun range is one of the very few places in New York where enthusiasts can use their firearms. Even if you do not own your own gun, you can typically rent one at a range, buy your ammunition, and have fun doing some target practice. But, who can you sue if you are injured at the gun rage? If you were injured at a gun range, our Harlem, NY personal injury attorneys will look at the business that manages the range to file your lawsuit against. The gun range is responsible for the safety of the premises, so there is a good chance they can be sued.

Property owners and businesses, including gun ranges, must ensure the safe conditions of their premises. If the gun range was aware of a dangerous condition and did not correct it, we can usually file a premises liability lawsuit against them. Even if the gun range did not know about the unsafe conditions, they could still be held liable in a premises liability claim if we can prove that they had a reasonable amount of time to discover the issue and fix it.

However, you will almost always need to sign a waiver of liability before using the range. While this could impact your claim, many waivers do not stand up to legal challenges. The following will help you understand how waivers work, and the types of negligence gun ranges can be sued for in New York:

Understanding How Waivers of Liability Work

A liability waiver is a contract between you and the gun range that limits your right to file a claim in the event of an accident. However, the accident must be connected with the activities offered by the gun range. As such, the waiver will likely describe acts you are prohibited from and what you must do to remain safe while using your firearm at the range. Thus, if you are injured through your own negligence, the waiver will likely be enforceable in court.

That does not mean all parts of a gun range waiver will be valid. In New York, G.O.B. Law § 5-326 prevents recreational businesses and similar establishments from excusing their negligence through the use of a waiver. The caveat is that the gun range must be recreational. This means that you paid a fee for the right to access the range or have a membership application with a gun range. If the range is for training or official use, like a police gun range, this law will not apply. Our team can determine what type of gun range you were injured in if you are unsure if your gun range is recreational.

Examples of Gun Range Negligence

Gun ranges have many responsibilities, so their negligence can arise in numerous ways. Considering the inherent danger in an otherwise recreational activity, warning signs should be posted all over the gun range. This includes placing signs inside the retail section and the alley range. Further, the gun range should have employees posted around the premises to enforce these safety standards and keep watch for potentially inexperienced and negligent customers.

Our team can also help you hold a gun range liable in a lawsuit if you were injured by a careless employee. Perhaps an employee forgot to unload and put a firearm away after a rental was returned and injured you in a misfire. In other cases, employees might not have been paying attention while a careless patron is handling their weapon. Or, an employee might have given you the wrong ammunition and were injured when the gun was fired.

Fortunately, we can sue the gun range itself if its employees acted negligently under the rule of “vicarious liability.” This legal standard allows us to hold an employer liable for its employees as long as their negligence occurred while on the job.

What if I Was Injured in a Misfire Accident at a Gun Range in New York?

You might also be able to file a lawsuit even if you shot yourself. It is possible that you did everything required to use your gun safely but were still injured when the weapon misfired. However, guns do not simply go off by themselves. When you know you did nothing wrong, it is likely that you have a defective gun.

Most firearms are fairly complex machines, with several mechanisms working together to produce the gun’s firepower. If any one of these mechanisms fails, it can cause devasting and deadly accidents. However, our attorneys will need to investigate your claim to determine where the defect occurred in the weapon and who is responsible for the part. It is possible the gun has no issue, but the ammunition is defective.

We will first look at the gun range to sue if you were injured by a defective gun or ammunition you rented. Gun ranges are responsible for cleaning and maintaining their weapons and ammo. If a rental gun misfires, we can get the business records to determine how and when the range’s firearms were maintained.

It is more likely that a gun is defective because the firearm manufacturer produced a faulty or misassembled one. The slide could be defective, or the barrel might have exploded. In other cases, the ammunition explodes in the chamber, or the bullet head separates from the shell. In many cases, the gun and ammunition manufacturer will be different entities, but we can use both if each contributed to the accident.

We can also investigate a third-party gun retailer if they sold you a defective weapon they did not inspect beforehand.

Our New York Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help You Get Damages for Your Gun Range Injuries

Call The Carrion Law Firm today at (718) 841-0083 to get your free case review with our Brookhaven, NY personal injury lawyers.