15-22 Accidental Discharge Lawsuit.

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"Rugh Rohhh"

I just found this comment on a review site:

Mike Mohun Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 10:35 am

I am a lawyer , represent a meember of the U.S. Army, active duty, three deployments to Iraq. He purchases a Smith and Wesson M&P 15-22, it accidently discharges, striking someone in the leg. I need to find ,"expert" to examine weapon to determine if weapon malfunctioned. Case is in upstate NY. Also any recalls or acknowledement by Smith & Wesson of problems?
Click to expand...


Thoughts? Opinions?

Normally I'd say "Idiot Owner" but I don't know.. I would think an Active Duty Army man would know how to handle a rifle. I'm sure we won't know what the circumstances are. Interesting though.
 
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idk havent heard anythign about any other accidental discharges. if its a malfunction sounds like the first one. lets hope it doesnt start a trend
 
He broke the rule of Always Keep Muzzle pointed in a Safe Direction.

Had he followed this rule, there would be no lawsuit no matter the reason for the AD.
 
Wow, upstate NY? I wonder if this happened near Ft. Drum. I just ETS'd from the active Army, I was stationed at Drum for 3 years and just got out 2 weeks before the date of that post.

Let me tell you, there are quite a few idiots in the US Army, and just because a guy is an active duty soldier doesn't mean he knows how to handle a weapon safely. No offense to anyone but this guy might have been an HVAC repairman or something, numerous tours overseas doesn't mean he knows how to handle a weapon. If the weapon discharged that means it was LOADED, and if a bullet struck someone else in the leg than that means he was NOT following safe muzzle discipline. The rifle did not magically make a live round appear in the chamber, point itself at someone,and then "just went off" by itself.

It's the same story, "It just went off!"........a kid near where I live shot his friend in the chest with an AK-clone type rifle, because he was pointing it at his friend and it "somehow went off".:(

Most all "AD's" are actually "ND's".......it is very, very rare for a part to fail in a modern firearm that makes it discharge......THIS is why we always point the muzzle in a safe direction.
 
From the original post:

"I am a lawyer , represent a meember of the U.S. Army, active duty, three deployments to Iraq. He purchases a Smith and Wesson M&P 15-22, it accidently discharges, striking someone in the leg. I need to find ,"expert" to examine weapon to determine if weapon malfunctioned. Case is in upstate NY. Also any recalls or acknowledement by Smith & Wesson of problems?"

Are you sure this is an attorney? Usually they take an English class or two.
 
Or not,

A former student of my wife's after Practicing Law for a while, decided to change fields, she put herself through several years of grad school (MA & PhD) rewriting briefs for several large Chicago law firms. She told me that she could make a very good living doing it, but that it was incredibly boring.
 
Read this attorney's web site. He specifically states that his practice is limited to the representation of individuals charged with crimes.

My guess is that his client malfunctioned, not the firearm.
 
So that gun just jumped right up and shot someone in the leg! I'd like to know if that rifle intentionally loaded itself, intentionally pointed itself at someone, and then decided to let the hammer fall. I obviously don't know all the facts so I'm just guessing, but it sounds like a negligent discharge and someone is trying to push the responsibility and accountability elsewhere. It also looks to me like the Lawyer is an ambulance chaser.
 
MSgt G said:
From the original post:

"I am a lawyer , represent a meember of the U.S. Army, active duty, three deployments to Iraq. He purchases a Smith and Wesson M&P 15-22, it accidently discharges, striking someone in the leg. I need to find ,"expert" to examine weapon to determine if weapon malfunctioned. Case is in upstate NY. Also any recalls or acknowledement by Smith & Wesson of problems?"

Are you sure this is an attorney? Usually they take an English class or two.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily, Besides legalese is not the same as English. The ability to write one, does not presume they can write the other.
 
^ I agree with the Harrison. Usually attorneys, especially ones representing an active duty military member, are well spoken and literate. This does not seem the case.
 
Chuck,

I didn't bookmark the site, I saw it when I was searching for the 15-22 Patent to try and find a better schematic for a fellow forum member.

I do agree with what has been said about AD.. Yes the muzzle should always be pointed in the direction of only what you intend to kill, and if you don't intend to kill, then it should be cleared, safety checked and stored with a chamber flag in it.

But still, accidents happen and perhaps this was at a range, he was picking the weapon up from the bench and it discharged. Though when I am at any range my muzzle is always pointed at the direction of kill. I don't muzzle cross ANYTHING.....

I just wonder about the accidental part, like did the hammer let go on it's own? How do we know if the gun was box stock.. You could easily damage the trigger enough doing a "poor man's" trigger job that the sear may not have been holding correctly and whence jostled, it slammed the hammer home on it's own..
 
I have to say, I had a Remington 12 ga model 1100 that discharged a round while attempting to load the tube...
Difference between this story and when this happened to me is my barrel was pointed down range and no one was hurt. I don't care what malfunctions a weapon might have, this type of injury is not acceptable.

Harsh maybe, but I have taught 12 year olds in hunter safety courses that get it, so whats his excuse?
 
It has the AR15 FCG too. ND. no doubt.

Keep the booger-hook off the bang-switch.

My one ND was 30ish years ago, it was 22LR too. That's when I
learned that 22LR is serious business. It passed through 6
panels of drywall, one of plywood, and embedded itself in the
brick of the house.

I learned my lesson, and still take abuse from my dad for it.

ETA: This is why he won't let me shoot his sweet M1 carbine.
I wish he would let ME take care of it for him though.... :-)
 
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Expecting any random army guy to be some sort of mystical expert incapable of an AD is silly. It is far more likely he triggered a round into his buddies leg while fiddling and needs to man up.
 
lonejacklarry said:
This is all strangely reminiscent of the often discussed but never verified "Glock leg".
Click to expand...

ahh...the glock leg! I've seen this one in person at the grocery store, the "gunsmith with a CCW" decided to put a pocket knife clip on a glock slide and disregard the words "DO NOT CARRY IN READY FIRE (ONE IN CHAMBER) POSITION" and decided to pull up his pants and magically pull the trigger with his pants. Gun discharges, hits the sensor mat for the exit doors and ricochets into the ceiling tile all while missing his daughter holding his other hand.

I must say this 15-22 AD sounds more like an operator error or the glock leg
 
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