A Texas man who suffered significant injuries in 2009 after being shot in the foot when his rifle unexpectedly fired has reached a financial settlement with Madison, N.C.-based gun manufacturer Remington Arms Company LLC, according to his law firm.


Erath County resident Joel Lovell was represented by Houston attorneys Mark Lanier and Patrick O'Hara from The Lanier Law Firm in his claims that his Remington Model 700 rifle fired without the trigger being pulled. The lawsuit, Joel Lovell v. Remington Arms Company LLC et al., was filed late last year in Madison County district court.

The lawsuit asserted that Remington Model 700 rifles include a dangerous and defective Walker Fire Control System that can cause the weapons to fire without a trigger pull. According to the claims, the Model 700 can fire upon release of the safety, when the main bolt is moved, or when the gun is jarred or bumped.


In the legal filing, Lovell noted that although Remington Arms uses a safer alternate trigger mechanism in some of its rifles, the company continues to include the Walker Fire Control design in many of its products.


It is estimated that more than 5 million U.S. residents own Remington Model 700 rifles with the defective Walker Fire Control System. Multiple deaths and hundreds of serious injuries have been linked to the dangerous weapons.


Remington launched an aggressive counter attack against CNBC in 2010 after it aired an investigative report based on such lawsuits.