Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 426
Texas recognizes one minor exception. While a gun is resting in or
being removed from a gun rack permanently attached to a vehicle,
the presence of the permanently attached gun rack in the vehicle
establishes a significant causal connection between the accident and
the “use” of the vehicle. In other words, if a gun discharges while
resting on or being removed from a gun rack attached to a vehicle,
auto insurance will likely cover the event under existing Texas law.
See Mid-Century Ins. Co. v. Lindsey, 997 S.W.2d 153 (Tex. 1999).
VII. WHAT CIVIL LIABILITY DOES A PERSON FACE IF THEIR
CHILDREN ACCESS THEIR FIREARMS?
A. Parents are not responsible for minor children’s actions
merely because they are parents!
As a general rule, minors are civilly liable for their own torts (that
is, their wrongful actions such as negligence, gross negligence,
assault, etc.). The mere fact of paternity or maternity does not make
a parent liable to third parties for the torts of his or her minor children.
Under this general rule, parents are not responsible for their minor
children’s tortious actions when the minor child commits a tort and
the parent had no direct relationship to the child’s action, such as
providing a firearm in a negligent manner, failing to supervise the
child, or allowing the child to engage in behavior the parent knows
is dangerous or risky. See Sanders v. Herold 217 S.W.3d 11 (Tex.
App. 2006).
B. Parents who fail to “parent” may become responsible for
minor children’s actions
While a parent who has no direct relationship to a minor child’s
tortious actions is generally not liable for that child’s actions, if the
parent negligently allows their child to act in a manner likely to
harm another, if they give their child a dangerous instrumentality, or
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