[TexasDeputy]

Taurus lost an accidental discharge lawsuit in Boaz, Alabama, in 2009.

A PT 111 Millenium (article does not say "Millenium Pro") was loaded, holstered, safety on, dropped, and discharged, injuring the owner.

Details from original news strory:

Boaz man awarded $1.5 million | GadsdenTimes.com

Were there any changes, recalls, fixes, or other changes made? Did this resilt in the Millenium PRO (Gen 3) replacing the original Millenium series?



SUMMARY:
Boaz man awarded $1.5 million By Andy Powell
Times Staff Writer

Published: Friday, October 16, 2009 at 6:01 a.m. Last Modified: Friday, October 16, 2009 at 11:27 p.m.
An Etowah County Circuit Court jury on Thursday awarded a 28-year-old Boaz man a $1.25 million judgment in an unintended gun discharge case.

The jury awarded the judgment to Adam Maroney in a lawsuit against Taurus International Manufacturing.
The lawsuit, originally filed on Feb. 13, 2007, involved the unintended discharge of a PT111 9mm Millennium Taurus handgun in 2005.
Maroney, who owns a business in the Sardis area of Etowah County, was leaving home for work in 2005 when the handgun unintentionally fell to the floor in his garage.


According to a press release from Maroney’s attorney, Todd Wheeles, the gun was in a holster with the safety in the “on” position when it struck the ground and discharged, severely injuring Maroney.

 

[MOONDAWG]

I don't doubt the man was injured, but "do" have doubts about the story of how it happened.

To answer your question, I have not heard of any service bulletins, techical bulletins nor recalls of any kind.

 

[GunsandNoses]

In order to win you would think the plaintiff's side would have to prove that either the entire production run of that model is defective or that the individual weapon was defective.

Unfortunately in some courts you do not have to prove anything, you just have to convince the jury as to what occurred.

I wonder how they proved negligence?

I need more information.

 

[Jake3501]

Subsequently, an Albuquerque woman sued Taurus for a similar happening with a PT111. She settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

She appeared on Taurus Armed either in January or December just recently to show photos of her injuries which were severe. The same law firm handled both cases.

 

[whichfinger]

In order to win you would think the plaintiff's side would have to prove that either the entire production run of that model is defective or that the individual weapon was defective.

Unfortunately in some courts you do not have to prove anything, you just have to convince the jury as to what occurred.

I wonder how they proved negligence?

I need more information.

The bar in civil court is set considerably lower than in criminal court. cf: OJ - the glove didn't fit so the jury voted "acquit." He got sued for the demise of two people and was found "guilty." (Lost everything he had.)

 

[dbeardslee]

Subsequently, an Albuquerque woman sued Taurus for a similar happening with a PT111. She settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.

She appeared on Taurus Armed either in January or December just recently to show photos of her injuries which were severe. The same law firm handled both cases.

And that lady admitted that she was carrying her milpro with the safety off. The manual clearly tells you that the weapon can discharge if dropped with the safety off - and she said she had read the manual. She did drop it, and exactly what the manual said could happen did happen. And moreover it fell to begin with because her holster let go while she was taking off her sweats, which to me was more of a holster failure than a weapons failure. Course guns being the 'inherently evil' devices they are, it's probably a lot easier to sue a weapons manufacturer than a holster manufacturer. If I had been sitting on the jury I think my attitude would have been that she assumed the risk when she chose to disregard the safety warnings in the manual.

 

[trooperc7]

My guess in both cases, the anti gun agenda of the presiding judge had a heavy influence on the judgement.

 

[rollin thunder]

I wasn't aware of the lawsuit, but I think I may have posted around that time, that I dropped my PT111 on the floor, as I was trying to holster it.

It was one of those things that once you've dropped something, you want to catch it.
Well, I'm bending over, trying to catch this gun before it hits the floor.....CRASH, it hits the floor, rear of the slide first, I'm bent over staring down the barrel of a 9mm, less than two feet away.
Needless to say, it didn't go off, but I thought my bowels did. I lost my blood pressure, white as a ghost and shaking so much, I couldn't drink my coffee.
Now, you guy's are telling me, there have been discharges with the PT111.

 

[dbeardslee]

Keep this in mind with the milpros - they have a firing pin block that will stop the firing pin if the trigger isn't depressed. I think the most likely cause of the accidental discharges from being dropped was the trigger itself. If the safety was off, or the trigger was behind the safety (in which case it was as good as off) then there was nothing to arrest the triggers rearward movement. As the weapon fell through the air accelerating at sixty feet per second per second kinetic energy built up in the trigger, as well as in the firing pin itself. When the slide hit the ground I think the combination of the firing pin applying back pressure to the spring (which would lighten the required trigger pull) and the energy/weight that had built up in the trigger may have been enough to trip the sear. If the safety is properly engaged the trigger cannot move back, and the sear itself is locked in place. It'll move a little bit, but shouldn't move far enough to allow the firing pin hook to get by. And even if it did, with the trigger forward the firing pin block should still prevent a discharge.

The firing pin block is very easy to test to make sure it's working properly. Take the slide off, and push on the firing pin and see if it moves forward. It shouldn't. Then push down on the oblong shaped firing pin block, and push the firing pin forward again. It should move forward about 1/8". Release the firing pin, and then release the firing pin block, and again try to push the firing pin forward. It should be blocked again. If yours passes the function test then my advice is do what the manual says and carry it with the safety engaged and you should be okay.

And don't drop it anymore.

 

[Haanmicoss]

Gun accident in Albuquerque NM

Hey, I'm a newbie on the thread but this subject caught my eye. I just met this lady (who had the gun accident in Albuquerque) at the Phoenix gun show in Feb - she was handing out flyers about warning people about her accident. Terrible looking pictures of her injuries on the flyer. She has since started a website about the details of her accident. Weird I'd actually met her.

Love this thread! Keep your powder dry!

 

[Montkun]

Her case was settled out of court already, i believe another thread was made concerning that a few days ago. The subject was also spoken of some years ago as well, but i don't know where exactly it is on the site.

 

[SGMShadow]

All you have to do is look at McDonalds, hot coffee, and a woman spilling it. That case, like many others where people do stupid things, should have been thrown out of court.

 

[BorisTheSpider]

I would think (apparently incorrectly) that if that woman's case had been settled, whether it be by a judgement or an out-of-court settlement, that she should not be allowed to go around propagandizing her ND (Negligent Discharge -- there is no such thing as an accidental discharge).

Then again, I guess maybe it would depend on the details of the settlement. Oh well; follow the safety rules and all will be fine. And don't skimp on equipment. Or, if your holster isn't meant to withstand Greco-Roman Wrestling, don't change your clothes while carrying. Your first and best safety is the one between your ears.

 

[BigSkiff]

I'd like to keep this thread in perspective here. This is an incident that happened three years ago. It has been discussed on this forum before. The lady in question here was compensated by the manufacturer in an out of court settlement. As such, that brings her story to a conclusion regarding any complaint with Taurus firearms. While I'm very sad to see this happen to anyone, and I truly feel for this woman's suffering, in my opinion she is in part to blame for her own injuries. When you carry a concealed weapon, the first thing you remove before you remove any other article of clothing, is your weapon. And, when you remove it, you take measures to secure it, namely, you unload it lock it back and, and you put it in a safe place, before you do anything else. If you do not, you run the risk of having happen to you what happened to her. Firearms are not things to be taken for granted. You must think about them constantly and use good judgement when you are carrying or are around them. One minor lapse in judgement cause this woman a great deal of pain and suffering. If the gun had been handled properly, none of this would have happened. That is the message that should be getting attention here.

 

[Fishinkeylargo]

I would think (apparently incorrectly) that if that woman's case had been settled, whether it be by a judgement or an out-of-court settlement, that she should not be allowed to go around propagandizing her ND (Negligent Discharge -- there is no such thing as an accidental discharge).

Then again, I guess maybe it would depend on the details of the settlement. Oh well; follow the safety rules and all will be fine. And don't skimp on equipment. Or, if your holster isn't meant to withstand Greco-Roman Wrestling, don't change your clothes while carrying. Your first and best safety is the one between your ears.

Seems to me that is always what I hear, the terms of the settlement are supposed to remain confidential and neither party is accepting responsibilty or admitting fault. Then again I have never been involved in anything like that so I could be completely wrong.

 

[dbeardslee]

I'd like to keep this thread in perspective here. This is an incident that happened three years ago. It has been discussed on this forum before. The lady in question here was compensated by the manufacturer in an out of court settlement. As such, that brings her story to a conclusion regarding any complaint with Taurus firearms. While I'm very sad to see this happen to anyone, and I truly feel for this woman's suffering, in my opinion she is in part to blame for her own injuries. When you carry a concealed weapon, the first thing you remove before you remove any other article of clothing, is your weapon. And, when you remove it, you take measures to secure it, namely, you unload it lock it back and, and you put it in a safe place, before you do anything else. If you do not, you run the risk of having happen to you what happened to her. Firearms are not things to be taken for granted. You must think about them constantly and use good judgement when you are carrying or are around them. One minor lapse in judgement cause this woman a great deal of pain and suffering. If the gun had been handled properly, none of this would have happened. That is the message that should be getting attention here.

And I'll add this - she read the manual, specifically the part about the possibility of a discharge if the weapon was dropped with the safety off. And she chose to ignore the manufacturer's warnings and carry it with the safety off, and exactly what the manual said could happen, did happen. I know she did, 'cause she admitted it right here in these forums. I feel bad for her injury, but I also feel like she brought it on herself.

 

[bnation83]

My guess in both cases, the anti gun agenda of the presiding judge had a heavy influence on the judgement.

I am not familiar with these cases, but I think it more likely that the jury did not fully understand the workings of firearms and possibly more so sided against Taurus (pick any large company) with the deep pockets.

 

[chicharrones]

And I'll add this - she read the manual, specifically the part about the possibility of a discharge if the weapon was dropped with the safety off. And she chose to ignore the manufacturer's warnings and carry it with the safety off, and exactly what the manual said could happen, did happen. I know she did, 'cause she admitted it right here in these forums. I feel bad for her injury, but I also feel like she brought it on herself.

It's written on her website, too.http://www.taurusgunaccident.com/in-the-news-albuquerque-nm-kob-4/

 

[TimmiT]

All you have to do is look at McDonalds, hot coffee, and a woman spilling it. That case, like many others where people do stupid things, should have been thrown out of court.

That case, like many others, is also not understood by the public very well.

The coffee was to hot - She would have had third degree burns in he mouth and throat if she would have drank it. They did it because most people do not drink it right away, and they expect it will cool a bit. How would you like your ammo manufacturer to decide to make your rounds so powerful that it blows your weapon apart and takes off a hand, all because they figure that perhaps all the powder wont burn, and it is unlikely that your weapon will explode.

The woman did not sue for all of the money she received. She asked that her medical bills be covered, nothing more. Like a good corporation with plenty of lawyers, McD's refused to pay. They screwed them selves.

Speaking of screwing themselves, Taurus should have included a confidentiality agreement, if they did not. If they did, she is looking for trouble.

 

[MilProGuy]

According to a press release from Maroney’s attorney, Todd Wheeles, the gun was in a holster with the safety in the “on” position when it struck the ground and discharged, severely injuring Maroney.

Of course this is what his bottom-feeding attorney would say.

I guess he must have been there in the garage with the guy when it happened...so he can, naturally, vouch for him. (Right!)