Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 399
A. What is a civil claim or lawsuit?
A civil “lawsuit” or “suit” refers to the actual filing of written
paperwork with a court asserting that another party violated the
law, and seeking some type of redress. A “claim” can exist without
the filing of a lawsuit. A claim is simply the belief or assertion that
another party has violated the law. Many parties have claims they
never assert, or sometimes parties informally assert the claim in
hopes of resolving the disputes without the filing of a lawsuit. Also,
another term commonly used is “tort” or “tort claim.” A tort is a civil
claim arising out of a wrongful act, not including a breach of contract
or trust that results in injury to another’s person, property, reputation,
or the like. This Chapter reviews some common tort claims with
regard to firearms.
B. Difference between “civil claims” and “criminal charges”
To start with the basics, there are two different aspects of the legal
system that gun owners may face after the use of a firearm: criminal
and civil. There are several names and descriptive terms used for
each (e.g., civil lawsuit, criminal actions, civil claims, criminal
proceedings, etc.), but regardless of the terms, the same breakdown
applies; most cases are either criminal or civil. There is another
subgroup of proceedings called administrative actions. Those actions
are not covered by this Chapter but can sometimes impact LTC
holders. For example, appealing the denial, suspension, or revocation
of an LTC is an administrative act. See Chapters 12 and 13 for more
information.
With that said, the three primary differences between a criminal
action and a civil proceeding are: 1) who or what is bringing the
action or lawsuit; 2) what they are seeking; and 3) the burden of
proof. These differences are fairly straightforward.
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