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Torts Keyed to Goldberg
Gower v. Savage Arms, Inc.
Facts
John Gower was about to unload a rifle after a day of hunting when it discharged, shooting him in the foot. The gun was in the “safe” position at the time. Gower and his wife Debra (plaintiff) sued Savage Arms and Savage Sports Corporation (defendant), alleging that defendants bore successor liability to the Gowers on the grounds that the rifle had insufficient warnings and manufacturing defects.(1) a design defect that prevented the rifle from being unloaded in the “safe” position (“unloading defect”); (2) a design defect in the rifle’s lack of a detent system to improve safety (“detent defect”); and (3) a manufacturing defect that resulted in Gower’s particular rifle having a small metal ridge that caused the safety mechanism to gradually fail (“manufacturing defect”). The Gowers’ claims regarding the detent defect and manufacturing defect were supported by their expert, James Mason. Mason opined that a detent system would make the rifle more “user friendly” even though the existing set-up was “adequate.” He offered evidence of the manufacturing defect by comparing Gower’s rifle to an exemplar in the same product line: Gower’s rifle clearly deviated from the exemplar. Defendants moved for summary judgment while aDaubertmotion regarding the admissibility of Mason’s expert opinion was also pending.
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