Gower v. Savage Arms, Inc.

166 F.Supp. 2d 240 (2001)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

P was hunting with his two brothers and his brother-in-law. P left the woods and headed toward their truck, and as he emerged from the woods, he turned around for one more visual sweep of the woods and field. P was preparing to unload his gun when the gun discharged, shooting him in the foot. P was wearing thick gloves, and his fingers were inside the trigger guard when the gun discharged. At the time of the discharge, P had not taken the gun off the 'safe' position. The rifle was designed so as not to fire when in the 'safe' position. The rifle was manufactured by Savage Industries. P purchased the rifle in October 1989 from the Quarry Sporting Goods Store, which no longer exists as a business entity and is not a party to this lawsuit. At the time of purchase, a Quarry Sporting Goods employee demonstrated to P how the safety mechanism on the rifle functioned. All guns shipped out by Savage Industries in 1987 were shipped in boxes containing safety manuals. P purchased the gun without its box and did not receive a safety manual with the gun. As confirmed by expert inspections, the rifle was not working properly at the time of the accident. The safety mechanism could only be placed in the 'safe' position with more than the usually required force. In February 1988, Savage Industries filed for bankruptcy. The owners of Savage Industries set up a company, named D. In July of 1989, Savage Industries sold four of its eleven product lines, including the Model 99 product line, together with associated tooling, machinery, trademarks, trade-names, patents, trade secrets, and goodwill, to D. On November 1, 1989, Challenger International purchased the four product lines and also took over the physical manufacturing plant previously used by Savage Industries. D contracted with a foreign corporation, Llama, located in Spain, to manufacture the Model 99. Llama used its own equipment, its own processes and procedures, and its own components to manufacture the Model 99s. D then attached a stock to the rifles before being distributed. Llama stopped manufacturing the Model 99s around 1992 or 1993. In 1994, D continued to use the remaining component parts from Llama to produce Model 99s. In or around 1995, D then began to manufacture the Model 99s itself. D claims that Savage Industries sold and/or liquidated all of the manufacturing equipment used to produce the Model 99 Lever Action Rifle in or around September of 1988 prior to contracting with Llama to produce the Model 99s. D claims that they purchased entirely new equipment in 1995, prior to resuming the manufacture of Model 99s, and that a new manufacturing process was used. Evidence showed that the manufacturing processes and tools remained substantially the same from the 1960s to the present. Challenger International retained ownership of D until November 1, 1995, when Ronald Coburn purchased Savage Arms from Challenger International through a holding company, registered as Savage Sports Corporation. D moved for summary judgment.