Personal injury lawyer Alexander Perkins was the first Florida lawyer to determine the dangerous design defect of the safety mechanism of certain model Taurus led to an accidental shooting of his client. The defect allows for the gun to fire when the safety button is still on. Sometimes this defect is known as a “drop fire†(when someone drops the gun to the ground it discharges the round), but it can happen without the gun being dropped.
In this case, Mr. Perkins was representing a client who had accidentally shot himself in the leg while adjusting his belt holster despite the gun being in safety mode. When the safety is activated the gun should not have been able to discharge a round. Taurus initially denied any defect in the design and manufacture of the gun an blamed the victim. Taurus accused the shooting victim of misuse and all other kinds personal attacks to avoid liability. Mr. Perkins was not deterred. In 2013 Mr. Perkins filed the first Florida lawsuit against Taurus in Miami-Dade Circuit Court based on this defect causing injury.
The involved Taurus model gun was a PT 24/7 Pro DS CAL 45 ACP. Mr. Perkins listened to his client and the referring attorney when no one else would. He believed his client’s story, and started his own research, including taking possession of the firearm through licensed channels and having it sent to an expert in in firearms. Even the experts were initially incredulous until Mr. Perkins explained the circumstances of the accidental discharge and the nuanced fact that Mr. Perkins noticed that Taurus had edited versions of its manual over the years to omit a certain features of the gun that it initially touted in its marketing setting it apart from other guns. These two features were the “decocker safety†and “2nd positionâ€
The “decocker safety†is a mechanism on the manual safety latch that allows for the user of the loaded gun to decock the internal firing pin by lifting the manual safety latch past the safety on position. This decocks the automatically cocking gun, hence the DS in the name of the model gun.
The other part of the defect comes in the form of the gun’s “2nd position†which allows the user to carry the gun loaded and cocked with the trigger lock in the most rearward position with the safety latch in the on position. It was this†2nd position†in combination with the decocker safety that was the defect that allowed for the Taurus handgun to fire while the gun was holstered with the safety on.
If you or a loved one has sustained an injury due to an accidental discharge of a Taurus handgun while the safety latch is on, you may have a claim against Taurus International who is based in Miami Florida. Miami- Dade County is the proper jurisdiction and venue to bring a case against Taurus because that is where the company has its principal place of business. Mr. Perkins will work with referring attorneys from out of state and will counsel the case and provide a referral/co-counsel fee with the referring lawyer or firm. Please contact Mr. Perkins perkins@perkinslawoffices.com for a free personal injury or wrongful death consultation review for gun defect case or call 305-741-5297
