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Gun maker Forjas Taurus SA has agreed to a $30 million class action settlement with plaintiffs who claim that some of their handguns are made with defective safeties that are capable of firing when dropped — even when the safety is locked.
The Brazilian gun manufacturer will give class members extended warranties, training and $30 million to settle the allegations made in the class action lawsuit.
Plaintiff Chris Carter and Taurus have filed a joint motion asking for preliminary approval of the class action settlement in a Florida federal court.
While Taurus continues to deny any wrongdoing, the company has agreed to pay Class Members up to $200 for pistols that were returned in addition to an enhanced lifetime warranty and training for the firearms.
This Taurus class action lawsuit affects nine handgun models that includes six PT Millennium models.
The $200 is based on fewer than 10,000 guns being returned. The minimum that class members will receive is $150, if 200,000 claims are filed. Taurus will also pay $9 million in attorneys’ fees.
The training Class Members will receive is for the purpose of addressing the alleged defects, which will cover basic handling instructions for pistols. The pistols which are at issue in the class action lawsuit may also receive a free inspection by Taurus under the new warranty terms, according to the firearms class action settlement agreement.
Carter alleged in his class action lawsuit that the Taurus pistols in question “contain a drop-fire defect that may cause the pistols to fire when dropped from a normal height, and a false safety defect which allows the pistols to unintentionally fire even when the manual safety lever in in the ‘on’ or ‘safe’ position and the trigger moves rearward.”
Carter is a deputy for the Scott County, Iowa, sheriff’s department. He filed the class action lawsuit after his own Taurus gun fired while he was working one day as a narcotics agent and he dropped his gun on the ground in the middle of a pursuit. When the gun fell, it fired even though the safety was on. However, no one was shot, only a car was hit.
According to the class action lawsuit, Taurus was aware of the defects in their guns since 2007. In addition, the class action lawsuit also cited lawsuits that Taurus settled over injuries that allegedly occurred from unintended discharges. Also, the Sao Paulo State Military Police in Brazil reportedly recalled 98,000 Taurus firearms in 2013 because the alleged trigger problems.
The Taurus class action lawsuit charged the Brazilian gun maker with suppression, failure to warn, violating the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and state consumer protection laws.
“At all relevant times to this action, the Taurus defendants fraudulently concealed and intentionally failed to warn plaintiff and class members of the safety defects with the intent to deceive the plaintiff, class members and general public without knowledge of the defects,” the defective firearm class action lawsuit said.
The plaintiffs are represented by David L. Selby II, John W. Barrett and Patricia M. Kipnis of Bailey & Glasser LLP, Ira H. Leesfield, Carol Lynn Finklehoffe and Thomas B. Scolaro of Leesfield & Partners PA, Todd Wheeles of Morris Haynes Hornsby & Wheeles, and Angelo “Tony” Marino Jr.
Forjas Taurus is represented by Timothy A. Bumann, John Patrick Marino and David A. Mobley of Smith Gambrell Russell LLP.
The Taurus Defective Firearm Class Action Lawsuit is Carter v. Forjas Taurus SA et al., Case No. 1:13-cv-24583, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
UPDATE: A website has been established with more information about the Taurus class action settlement. As of Oct. 14, 2015, the Claim Form was not yet available. However, you can register to receive updates about when the Claim Form is available. Click here or visit www.TaurusCarterSettlement.com for details.
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21 thoughts onGun Maker Taurus Reaches $30M Class Action Settlement Over Trigger Defect
Todays date 7/6/2020 i have a Millennium PT140 .40 caliper called Taurus customer care services mail my gun in send a 9m pay the 50 dollars to ship it i do not want a 9m i have stocked up on 40 cal ammunition hundreds of dollars in it i want a 40 cal for replacement Taurus has a new 40 out
oh boy
I bought a pt111 .9 mm and a pt145 .45 towards the end of 2015 the pt145 .45 cal pistol was sent back as it would not cycle properly and hung up, Taurus sent me a new pt145 .45 gen 2 pistol in exchange! The pt111 .9 mm I notified both the attorneys for Carter and taurus, and was told to go to Taurus web site and fill out form, in speaking to Taurus customer service rep, was told not to worry, she said I’d be very pleased and Taurus would take care of me! A year later, still nothing, they have my cell number and email address!
What this suit should have settled, was that Taurus should have to fix this problem, replace it with a gen 2 model or have to give complete refund cost as I had fired only six mags thru it! Still like new condition! Not offer $120 less for a new gun, this is a slap in the face, in other words, I’m paying in profits of Taurus got to pay towards the $200 there offering if it’s turned in! Also, our court system along with consumer protection has let us all down by not forcing a recall replacement! In America, no gun manufacturer would be allowed to not fix this issue, dropping a gun is an accident, I don’t know anyone who owns a gun that would purposely drop their gun! So to offer a class as a fox is essentially not a fix it’s a bandaid with which to hide the real issue, apparently there’s a real fix which the gen 2 is supposed to fix, why not have Taurus install those mechanisms in the pt111 .9 mm? Maybe that is what Taurus customer agent was referring to but at the time, could not say so! If that’s the case, now that the case is settled, how about Taurus telling owners, they will install the gen 2 trigger assembly that to upgrade their pistols! If they truly care about future sales and keeping customer’s safe and happy!
I also bought a S&W sd40ve about this same time, the problem with it was it was bulging the sidewall of the spent shells at the base which I’ve never seen in any of the guns I’ve owned, I sent it in and I called S&W to check on status of it after several weeks, I was told they had changed the barrel and that in most cases, they would not fix this issue and just send the pistol back, there engineer’s knew of the issue! I reload so this weakens the spent case, I’ve yet to try to reload one of those cases, no time to yet! I got the pistol back and it also bulged the case not as much but still is an issue! Seems like S&W is going down hill refusing to fix this issue! No quality control! Just like Taurus! Boycotting our bases of both companies and calling to tell them why, will get proper results, not my problem attitudes by the gun community only allowed forore piss poor quality products to be pushed out their doors! On the good aspect, Taurus does sell their mags cheaper than you can buy same mags at any retailer got those pistols even with shipping! I got three extras for both prior to Taurus’s settlement! So even if I turned it in for a $100 plus loss, they won’t pay for then unless mags! Point being customers can bitch at them enough they may concede to actually fixing those pistols properly if they intend to sell more, or tell everyone why they should not purchase their products, it Will hurt their bottom line! As gun owners, don’t you want to be safe even if the guy next to you has one of these potentially lethal accident waiting to happen guns? Make the call flood them with your concerns and tell them to properly fix these guns if they want your business! Good luck to all, safe shooting!
A Redding GRX die or Lee Bulge Buster push-through sizer die will remove that bulge. This isn’t a defect, per se, but does make reloading the cases more troublesome.
Do not buy a G2 model at all i just had a PT 111 G2 Discharge when i racked a round into the chamber. Taurus has told me that it is impossible because it has a firing pin block. I have spoke with at least 10 gunsmiths who have told me that the G2 is the same as the Pt111 Gen 1 only got a facelift. Also i have been told that Taurus settled to keep things quiet and the G2 models are also affected by this defect. Shady company dont buy a Taurus they are dangerous.
My 24/7 Pro guide rod broke and the spring launched. It literally took flight and disappeared to who knows where. I could buy a stainless guide rod but can’t find a spring ANYWHERE. So that does me NO good. Fighting with Taurus over the last 72 hours. They created a “customer card” and I’m waiting to hear back from a Supervisor. Customer service shouldn’t be a struggle. This gun is covered as a class pistol. Maybe they will send me a G2 version of the same gun?
UPDATE: The final hearing has been continued until 7/18/16. Claim Forms will not be available until after the the settlement is finally approved and any appeals are concluded.
Taurus you have known about this issue for years, you should stand behind your product and provide full refunds rather than your paltry $200 offer. Customers purchased your product in good faith, so do the right thing.