Summary
This Washington Supreme Court case addresses whether a gun shop owner owes a duty of care under negligence principles when selling a firearm to an allegedly intoxicated customer who subsequently uses it to commit a homicide. Reversing the trial court's grant of summary judgment, the court adopted Restatement (Second) of Torts § 390 to establish that suppliers may be liable for providing dangerous instrumentalities to individuals known or reasonably suspected to be incompetent due to intoxication. The court remanded the wrongful death action for a jury to determine whether the defendant breached its duty and whether that breach was the proximate cause of the decedent's death.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the trial court erred in granting summary judgment dismissing the wrongful death action based on negligent entrustment of a firearm to an intoxicated person
- Whether respondents owed a duty of care to the decedent under Washington negligence law
- Whether respondents breached that duty and were the proximate cause of the decedent's death
Holdings
- The trial court erred; the Supreme Court reverses and remands for trial.
- A duty is imposed on respondents under Restatement (Second) of Torts §390 for furnishing a firearm to an intoxicated person.
- Whether breach and proximate cause exist are questions for the jury; the court remands for trial.
Key quotations
“In weighing the policy considerations, we hold that the duty owed by respondent is best summarized by Restatement (Second) of Torts § 390 (1965), which we now adopt: One who supplies directly or through a third person a chattel for the use of another whom the supplier knows or has reason to know to be likely because of his youth, inexperience, or otherwise, to use it in a manner involving unreasonable risk of physical harm to himself and others whom the supplier should expect to share in or be endangered by its use, is subject to liability for physical harm resulting to them.”
Factual background
Robert Fleming, heavily intoxicated, entered Walt Failor's gun shop, purchased a rifle and ammunition, and left the store with the firearm. He later returned to a tavern, where he shot and killed his estranged wife, Phoebe Fleming.
Procedural history
The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the gun shop owners. The Court of Appeals certified a question of law. The Washington Supreme Court reviewed and reversed the summary judgment, remanding for trial.
Remand instructions
Remand for trial on the wrongful death claim.