Gower v. Savage Arms, Inc.
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
166 F. Supp. 2d 240 (2001)
Experienced hunter Gower (plaintiff) was injured when his rifle, manufactured by Savage Industries and later assumed by successor Savage Arms (defendant), discharged while in the "safe" position as he was unloading it after hunting; he sued alleging insufficient warnings, a design defect preventing safe-position unloading, a design defect lacking a detent safety system, and a manufacturing defect (a metal ridge causing the safety mechanism to gradually fail), the latter two supported by expert testimony comparing his rifle to an unaltered exemplar. Defendants moved for summary judgment while a Daubert motion on the expert's opinions remained pending.
Whether a manufacturer is subject to strict products liability where the plaintiff shows that the product was defective at the time it left the manufacturer's hands and that such defect caused injury to the plaintiff.