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Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

This story is related to previous discussion about stupid airgunners"

"...John "Tucker" Mahoney, of New Hope, Pa. On May 24, 1999, Tucker and his friend were shooting a model 856 Powerline, two days after he had received the airgun as a gift for his 16th birthday. CPSC staff contends that as a result of a defect within the airgun, a BB remained lodged inside of the airgun's magazine, unbeknownst to Tucker or his friend. Believing the airgun was unloaded, Tucker's friend pointed and fired the airgun at close range. The hidden BB became dislodged, chambered, and struck Tucker in the head. Tucker was severely injured and is now in a near vegetative state. In February 2001, Daisy settled Tucker's product liability lawsuit for approximately $18 million dollars."

How does a bb become lodged inside the chamber and then somehow dislodge the next time it is fired? You have to cock and chamber a bb with those guns each time you shoot. But regardless of that, this kid cocks and shoots the gun while aiming at his friend's head!?! Shocked

Don't get me wrong, Daisy's are pieces of crap. But this kid was violating a rule that the manual says not to do, so Daisy should be covered.

It doesn't matter what the defect is, if he wasn't shooting at his friends head then this never would've happened.

Who would've thought a bb could do that much damage? I mean, this kid's a vegetable now from a bb. But I've seen that show about the woman who took a 357 to the face at point blank range and she is now fine, despite being disfigured.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Whenever a BB or pellet gets through a 'weak spot' in someone's head- i.e. the eye socket or such, it can be fatal.

That being said- I wonder why Daisy settled on this? Easier to let their insurance company pay the bill? (Daisy was likely not really part of the negotiations- their insurer would be). If someone flat-out points the gun at someone and fires, thinking it's empty or not, shouldn't be the manufacturer's problem.

sbtzc · Member

I really hate gun "accidents". In my book, there are no accidents.

Treat every gun as if it were loaded.

Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.

Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.

Keep the gun unloaded, with the action open, until ready to shoot.

Its just not that hard people.

Rogerflat · Silver Status Member

And how could they ever prove that it was a previously lodged pellet that became dislodged? For instance, there could've been one lose bb in the magazine that the kid didn't know was in there and then he cocked and chambered it like normal and shot his friend. I'm sure his lawyers and thier "experts" took the gun afterwards and fired a million shots through it until they got ONE bb to get stuck, but how do they prove that it happened the time the kid was shot?