{"id":1350,"date":"2019-09-02T05:20:07","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T11:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insuringky.com\/blog\/?p=1350"},"modified":"2019-07-29T09:17:53","modified_gmt":"2019-07-29T15:17:53","slug":"gun-liability-its-complicated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insuringky.com\/blog\/gun-liability-its-complicated\/","title":{"rendered":"Gun Liability \u2013 It\u2019s Complicated"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Guns aren’t tools, always treat them with respect<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 2010,\nduring a party that involved minors drinking alcohol, one guest was shot and\nkilled when a gun, being played with by its owner (another party attendee) went\noff. The parents of the deceased sued the parents of the gun handler. The\nlatter requested coverage from their homeowner insurance company. The company\ndenied coverage and, eventually, a court ruled that no obligation existed under\nthe insurance policy. The company was released from the lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Homeowners coverage, like other insurance policies, is\nintended to protect against losses that are accidental. Often, accidental\nlosses can be readily determined, but incidents involving firearms are\ncomplicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Accidental discharge of a gun can be a crime<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When one\nperson injures another, both the act and the intent are considerations of\nwhether an incident is an accident. In the shooting incident mentioned above,\nit was determined that the gun handler was guilty of negligently handling the\ngun and was jailed. Since a court determined the incident was a crime, it did\nnot qualify as an accident. A loss caused by a crime is ineligible for\ncoverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a\nloss involves firearms, it is often treated far differently than other\ncircumstances. Consider the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim is\nhosting a party at his house for a bunch of high school friends and Fran is one\nof the persons attending it. Jim, well known to his friends as the group\u2019s\nclown, is fooling around with an item. Fran, who is nearby, is seriously\ninjured. Later, Fran\u2019s family sues Jim\u2019s parents and they file the lawsuit with\ntheir insurance company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scenario\none \u2013 Jim recently became interested in tennis. He brings out a very expensive\ntennis racket he just received. He brags about how light and powerful it is and\nhe demonstrates strokes. When he demonstrates a backhand, Fran is passing\nbehind him and she is hit, suffering a broken nose and several shattered teeth!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scenario\ntwo \u2013 Jim recently became interested in firearms. He brings out a very\nexpensive pistol he just received. He brags about how light and powerful it is\nand he demonstrates how it is supposed to be handled. When he demonstrates how\nto aim it, the gun fires and Fran is struck. The bullet hits and fractures her\nshoulder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both\nscenarios, the injuries are a result of Jim\u2019s immature and careless action. In\nboth situations, no harm was intended. In both instances, Fran is seriously\ninjured. In all likelihood, the losses will not be handled similarly. A tennis\nracket is a piece of equipment that is intended to be used for a particular\nsport. It is used for hitting tennis balls and other uses are considered\nunusual and, for the most part, not dangerous. This loss has a very high chance\nof being treated as an accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A gun is\na weapon. It is used for both defensive and offensive purposes and, by nature,\nis capable of extremely serious, often deadly harm. It is considered to be a\ndangerous instrument. Therefore, the stakes are far higher whenever a gun or\nother firearm causes a loss. In many instances, even when harming another party\nis completely unintended, acts involving firearms also involve far more\naccountability and may not be classified as accidental. In the shooting\nscenario, the chance is very high that the loss would be denied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because of the danger inherent in guns, it\u2019s important to be aware that losses involving them are often ineligible for insurance protection. That makes it critical that their ownership is treated seriously and every possible precaution against unintended injury be taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

COPYRIGHT: Insurance Publishing Plus, Inc., 2016<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All rights reserved. Production or distribution, whether in whole\nor in part, in any form of media or language; and no matter what country, state\nor territory, is expressly forbidden without written consent of Insurance\nPublishing Plus, Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2010, during a party that involved minors drinking alcohol, one guest was shot and killed when a gun, being played with by its owner (another party attendee) went off. The parents of the deceased sued the parents of the gun handler. The latter requested coverage from their homeowner insurance company. The company denied coverage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,69,13],"tags":[1635,1634,1620,1630,1622,1618,1627,1628,1623,1625,1624,1626,1621,1619,1629,1631,1632,1633,1636],"class_list":["post-1350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-insurance","category-unmanned-aircraft","category-personal-insurance","tag-does-homeowners-insurance-cover-shooting","tag-does-hoomeowners-insurance-cover-gun-liability","tag-firearms-insurance","tag-firearms-liability-insurance","tag-gun-collection-insurnace","tag-gun-insurance","tag-gun-insurance-in-kentucky","tag-gun-liability-insurance","tag-insurance-for-gun-collectors","tag-insurance-for-gun-owners","tag-insurance-for-kentucky-gun-collectors","tag-insurance-for-kentucky-gun-owners","tag-kentucky-firearms-insurance","tag-kentucky-gun-insurance","tag-kentucky-gun-liability-insurance","tag-liability-insurance-for-guns","tag-rifle-insurance","tag-rifle-liability-insurance","tag-will-homeowners-insurance-cover-accidental-gun-shot"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insuringky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insuringky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insuringky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insuringky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insuringky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1350"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.insuringky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1353,"href":"https:\/\/www.insuringky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1350\/revisions\/1353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insuringky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insuringky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insuringky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}