My first ever accidental/negligent discharge

[Lilburner]

And hopefully my last! Maybe it will count as my mulligan for a lifetime.

The good news - no one was hurt.

The other good news... It was a Daisy Red Ryder BB gun.

I bought it on clearance at WalMart along with some other clearance stuff (they're going nuts lately with the gun aisle clearance stuff). 

I took it to the truck, took it out, thought "This is used!"

But I didn't get all the  way through the thought because "FWAAAAKK!!!" I just shot a hole in my windshield!

That's right. WalMart sold me a USED, LOADED, COCKED, BB GUN WITH THE SAFETY OFF.

I'm still at the store while they do the paperwork. I'm actually pretty shaken not because of what physically happened, but that I had ANY accidental discharge even in spite of the near-impossible circumstances.

[florida44]

Wow! That story could have went so much worse. I am glad your windshield is the only casualty. Glad your okay.

[halo]

OMG..this could have been a much worse situation!   Could you imagine had a young child picked that up in the store and it dicharged.  It could have caused serious injuries.  Please don't tell me BB guns can't. ...a child lost his life here a couple years back when he was shot in the chest with one..right in the heart.  Very sad.

[Ravenwood1950]

That is really scary! Thank goodness no one was harmed, but I am sad about your windshield. Be careful!
Ravenwood

[Lilburner]

Well if it saved some little kids eyeball I'm glad it happened to me.

Still unnerving, though. I'm not too worried about the windshield. My new one will be newer than my old one!

Hopefully it doesn't spread too bad before I got it dealt with. I have a claim number and an 800 number to call.

I'll call my lawyer in the morning and see if it's any kind of instant payday. I imagine they're just on the hook for the windshield, but it needs to be brought to the attention of people far enough up the food chain so that that NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN.

[Lilburner]

I talked to my lawyer this morning. Not so much for a quick payday, but to see if there was something we could do to make  it a big enough and expensive enough lesson to Walmart that they make sure it never happens again. Just imagine if I'd taken it home and wrapped it up for a 7 year old to unwrap at his well-attended birthday party. (Shudder).

He said there was nothing there, though. That something actually tragic would have to happen to take that approach. That they're just on the hook for the windshield.

[Amish]

I have a nice little scar on the back of my neck from a red ryder BB gun. Had to have the BB surgically removed from the back of my neck. Long story made short never punch your brother in the face with a basketball and run when he has a bb gun.

[Lilburner]

I put a like - not a great story - I just like that you got shot. 

Seriously, though - which was worse - having a BB removed from your neck or the amount of trouble your brother got it? If he got in enough trouble it would almost be worth it!

[joebob]

I went into a friends pawn shop about 8 or 10 years ago and asked to look at a 9 mm pistol. When the young lady behind the counter handed it to me I pulled the slide back halfway to check to see if it was loaded and the chamber was empty but the mag was full. When I dropped the mag out and showed it to her she she freaked out. They started to be a lot more careful after that. I guess my good habit of always checking an "unloaded gun " for myself is a good habit.

[Lilburner]

Well yeah - there is a reasonable expectation in a gun shop that anything in the case is preowned or could have been maliciously tampered with. A cop shot his finger off in Kentucky doing that.



But honestly - a Red Ryder BB gun in a box from WalMart? I never in a million years would have thought to safety check that. I would NOW of course.

In fact, after checking out some of my clearance haul, I went BACK to WalMart last night to get some duplicates and some other clearance stuff. I bought another BB gun for $20. this one was a CO² model and when I took it out of the box it had huge cable ties holding it down that had to be cut, AND the cartridge door was open, revealing no cartridge, and I still fired it in a safe direction.

[Nemo]

I talked to my lawyer this morning. Not so much for a quick payday, but to see if there was something we could do to make  it a big enough and expensive enough lesson to Walmart that they make sure it never happens again.

Yes, it would take an 8 year old getting his eye shot out and losing control of all of his body except being able to fumble a bit with one hand for the number to be big enough to get wally to pay attention.

Nemo

[Gunner]

RULE #1 - Treat every weapon as if it were loaded.

Glad that it wasn't as bad as it could have been... glad that you are safe and that no one was hurt.

[Amish]

Actually my brother did not get in trouble at all. The scuffle began inside and dad did say take it outside. Coming from a house with 5 brothers fights involving injuries were a common occurrence. Dad's words of wisdom at the emergency room. "Don't start a fight if you can't win unless you are prepared to suffer the consequences."

[Son of a son of the south]

"Don't start a fight if you can't win unless you are prepared to suffer the consequences."

Good advice!  We should all take that to heart.

soasots

[Lilburner]

email to my lawyer...


You're not going to believe this.

WalMart is denying liability for selling me a cocked, loaded BB gun.

The guy in the store even took a picture of the gun and the box.

The woman said "There was no record that the gun had been sold before or the box had been marred".

The box was beat to hell! And they have a picture of that PLUS it had a markdown sticker right on it, which I initially presumed was BECAUSE the box was so beat up!". It was only as I was pulling the gun out of the box that I realized that the GUN had been extensively marred as well. That's when it went off. Presumably because I activated the trigger. The argument she gave was "A gun doesn't go off by itself". That's a specious argument, because a gun in that state should not have the ABILITY TO FIRE no matter what!"

The WalMart claim's people telephone number is 800-XXXXXXXXXX

The woman's name is XXXXXXXXX. It's not clear if she's the one lying about the pictures or if she's the one being lied to. But they have pictures of both the box and the gun in a used state, as do I. It's gone beyond just a standard of disclaiming of liability or negligence at this point. Someone is actively lying about the condition. They said they "conducted an investigation", which the state of the gun would have been revealed that it was sold as an individually marked-down item, when there were new guns in stock.

Her extension is XXXXXXXXXX

The claim number is XXXXXXXXX

I'm including some attachments in this mail that I already have handy. I can provide other documentation including the store receipt, condition of the gun, markdown pricetag, etc. as needed.

2015-08-18 17.56.14.jpg (08-18-2015, 5:56 PM) Shows me after having just left the store (receipt will bear this out) taking a picture of two toy guns to pass along to a friend. The irony is that I put the pistol in front of the rifle to minimize view of the worst of the damage to the box, but you can still tell it's been through the proverbial ringer. I can also provide a photo showing they put a special markdown price sticker on the box in addition to the bulk of the damage to the box. I would be amazed if they didn't have parking lot footage of this, and the fact that while I STARTED to remove the gun from the box, I did not based on public perception and the fact that earlier this year or possibly late last year, a young man was murdered by police for having a BB gun at a WalMart. The first time I unboxed it was inside the truck. also, while I don't have my own picture of the damaged windshield (WalMart took pictures), note there is no damage to the windshield at this time.

2015-08-18 18.27.11.jpg (08-18-2015, 6:27 PM) Thirty minutes later, I've damaged the windshield, waited for customer service, asked for a manager, waited for the manager, explained the story, inspected the damage outside with him, returned to customer service, and filled out the paperwork (not of lot of time to hatch a nefarious yet unprofitable scheme to ultimately have my windshield put back in exactly the same condition it was in when I arrived with no other compensation). While parking lot footage wouldn't be expected to see inside the truck, it can be used to measure the short amount of time I was inside the truck before exiting again. If it's HD, it may even capture the impact. Also of note if I provide the receipt is that I didn't buy any BBs, and I didn't access any other parts of the truck before entering, to have retrieved any BBs of my own.

2015-08-25 16.40.55,jpg Glass doctor invoice for 269.53. Not a good representation. I can scan it,of course, but like I said, I'm just providing documents I already have at this point.

BUT $269.53 is no longer the settlement amount! It was when I called Ms. XXXXXX this afternoon, but that went off the table when she called me a liar, inept, and whatever all else she said, either directly or by implication. Of course it needs to be worth your while as well.

This can not stand.

Please advise,

Thanks,