Lundy v. Hazen

411 P.2d 768, 90 Idaho 323, 1966 Ida. LEXIS 298
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 3, 1966
Docket9660
StatusPublished
Cited by58 cases

This text of 411 P.2d 768 (Lundy v. Hazen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lundy v. Hazen, 411 P.2d 768, 90 Idaho 323, 1966 Ida. LEXIS 298 (Idaho 1966).

Opinion

*325 SMITH, Justice.

This is an appeal from a summary judgment dismissing an action brought by appellants against respondent for recovery of damages which Franklin Lundy, a minor, sustained June 27, 1963, on account of personal injuries, together with medical and hospital expenses. The boy was playing with a .22 caliber cylinder type pistol loaded with a single shell, when the pistol discharged, the bullet wounding him in the face with resultant residual scars.

Appellants, at the time of the accident, maintained their home in Kimberly, Idaho, with their two children, Franklin, 13 years old, and Julie, 15 years old. Appellant Arch Lundy was a forest service employee. The parents, on June 1st, moved to a ranger station about 31 miles distant from Kimberly. Mrs. Lundy traveled back and forth, from the station to the home sometimes 3. or 4 times a week, returning to the station at night. The children worked in the beet-fields. Mrs. Lundy kept in close touch with , the children both personally and by telephone.

For sometime prior to the accident Franklin had in his possession a .22 rifle loaned to him by a relative. Esther Lundy, in her' deposition, stated that the boy was allowed' to go hunting with the rifle and was permitted to purchase ammunition for it. He had had instruction in the use of the gunVMrs. Lundy considered him to be a careful boy.

On June 27, 1963, Franklin, accompanied, by his sister, went to a sporting goods store *326 in Twin Falls, owned by respondent, for the purpose of buying a pistol with moneys he had earned. The sister advised her brother to consult his father before purchasing the gun. Respondent, without requesting written parental consent, sold the pistol to Franklin. His parents had not given their consent, either orally or in writing, to the purchase, although the boy’s mother knew o.f the boy’s desire to acquire the pistol.

■ The evening of June 27th, Julie telephoned her mother. Mrs. Lundy, in her deposition, stated that during the conversation, she first learned about her son’s purchase of the pistol. Earlier that day, when she visited the children at the home, Franklin told his mother of his desire to obtain the pistol. Mrs. Lundy then stated, “I ask■fcd him not to, to talk to his dad first, and he said, well, he had the money, and I excused it at that, because I figured the man wouldn’t sell it to him because he •wasn’t old enough.” She then stated that ’she did not tell Julie, the daughter, to take ■the pistol away from Franklin, but consented •to the boy keeping it “for the time being,” because she “figured he would handle it with care and keep it put up.” She didn’t remember whether she told her husband that Franklin had the pistol; later she stated that on June 28, 1963, after the accident, •she told the boy’s father that the boy had purchased the gun. The father, Arch Lundy, in his deposition, stated that the pistol was bought without his consent or knowledge.

The afternoon of June 28, 1963, after purchasing ammunition, Franklin returned home; after “restacking” the ammunition in its box, he had one cartridge left over which he inserted in the pistol. Later, he was “playing” with the pistol, snapping its hammer and trigger mechanism; the cartridge discharged and the bullet caused the boy to suffer sundry wounds in his face, neck and mouth.

Esther Lundy, in answer to an interrogatory, stated that on the evening the gun was purchased, the automobile which she used in going to and from the' ranger station and her home was not capable of making the trip.

The trial court, upon hearing respondent’s motion for summary judgment, dismissed the action, and from the resulting judgment appellants have appealed.

The trial court, when confronted by a motion for summary judgment, must determine if there are any genuine issues of material fact' which should be resolved by the trier of the facts. I.R.C.P. 56(c) ; Otts v. Brough, 90 Idaho 124, 409 P.2d 95 (1965). A motion for summary judgment must be denied if the evidence is such that conflicting inferences can be drawn therefrom and if reasonable men might reach different conclusions. Otts v.- Brough, su *327 pra. All doubts and all favorable inferences which may reasonably be drawn from the evidence will be resolved against the party moving for summary judgment. Otts v. Brough, supra.

Questions of negligence, proximate cause, intervening cause, and foreseeability are generally regarded as questions of fact for determination by the jury unless the proof is so clear that reasonable minds cannot draw different conclusions or where all reasonable minds would construe the facts and circumstances in only one way. Walenta v. Marks Means Co., 87 Idaho 543, 394 P.2d 329 (1964); Anderson v. Blackfoot Livestock Commission Co., 85 Idaho 64, 375 P.2d 704 (1962) ; Hoffman v. Barker, 79 Idaho 339, 317 P.2d 335 (1957).

Appellants assign as error the granting of the summary judgment; they contend that the pleadings, depositions and affidavits show genuine issues of material fact which warranted determination by a trier of the facts.

Appellants contend that respondent’s act of selling the pistol to Franklin Lundy, a minor under the age of 16 years, without the child having presented the written consent of his parents to the purchase of the gun, was in violation of I.C. ■ § 18-3308, and that such act was the proximate cause of the child’s injury. I.C. § 18-3308, reads in part as follows:

“No person, firm, association- or corporation shall sell or give to any minor under the age of sixteen years * * * any firearms of any description, with-' out the written consent of the parents' or guardian of such minor first had and obtained. Any person, firm, asso- ’ ciation or corporation violating any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor,-■ * * * ”

In Bale v. Perryman, 85 Idaho 435, 380 P. 2d 501 (1963), this Court ruled:

“ * * * this Court has repeatedly held that for one to.violate a positive statutory inhibition ,is negligence per se . * * *. Brixey v. Craig, 49 Idaho, 319, 288 P., 162; State ex rel. McKinney v. Richardson, 76 Idaho 9, 277 P. 2d 272; Ineas v. Union Pac. R. Co., 72 Idaho 390, 241 P.2d 1178. In 65 C.J.S. Negligence § 19c, p. 418, the general rule is stated as: The generally accepted view is that violation of a statutory duty constitutes negligence, negligence as a matter of law, or, according to the decisions on ‘the question, negligence per se, for the reason that nonobservance of what the legislature has prescribed as a suitable precaution is failure to observe that care which an ordinarily prudent man would observe, and, when the state regards certain acts as so liable to injure others as to justify • *328

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Bluebook (online)
411 P.2d 768, 90 Idaho 323, 1966 Ida. LEXIS 298, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lundy-v-hazen-idaho-1966.