A $75,000 personal injury case against Glock filed by an Arkansas policeman has been scheduled for trial in a federal court, according to the final scheduling order issued last week.
The jury trial will start Aug. 21, 2017, in a federal court in Helena, Arkansas, the order says. Final arguments and discovery exhibits are due in the beginning months of the year.
The plaintiff in the case, Larry Jones, of Cherry Valley, Arkansas, was injured when his Glock 19C pistol discharged unexpectedly at the shooting range in June 2013, the lawsuit says. At the time he was trying to attach a tactical light.
According to the complaint, the pistol had not been modified or changed since he bought it in December 2000. The lawsuit alleges Glock sold the pistol “in a defective condition which rendered (it) unreasonably dangerous.”
The Glock pistol’s lack of a manual safety and other similar features are the subject of what the lawsuit characterizes as defects that led to the injury. Also, Glock did not give “a reasonable and adequate warning of dangers inherent and/or reasonably foreseeable in the use” of the pistol, the lawsuit says.
According to the complaint, Jones injured his left foot and has experienced pain and suffering since the incident. In response, Glock denied all allegations presented in the complaint. The case was originally filed in a Arkansas state court, but was transferred to a federal civil court in May.
Glock, an Austrian company with its U.S. headquarters in Smyrna, Georgia, has had its fair share of criticism due to the lack of a manual safety. Critics have long said the design is attributable to a rise in accidental discharges and misfirings and requires more training to handle it adequately.
Despite the criticism, the company is the leading producer of handguns for law enforcement with 65 percent of market share. In fact, the Federal Bureau of Investigation just renewed contracts with Glock to the tune of $85 million. According to recent estimates, Glock has an annual revenue of $400 million.
