Idaho Lawsuit Is Latest Claim Against Remington

Remington Arms Co., maker of one of America’s most-popular hunting rifles, is in court again, this time with an Idaho lawsuit filed by a man who says he was shot through the foot by a defective weapon. Loren Korpi, an Oregon resident, said in U.S. District Court in Boise he was hunting a year ago in southwestern Idaho when a Remington 700 bolt action rifle wounded him without the trigger being pulled. Korpi’s case joins dozens of similar claims across the country filed against Remington over the past three decades. They contend its Model 700 bolt-action rifle, with more than 5 million sold since the 1940s, has a flawed trigger mechanism that the company has known about for years. "It’s fascinating what I believe is a truly defective product can continue to be made by a company staffed with good people," Timothy Monsees, a Kansas City-based lawyer who represents Korpi, said on Friday. Monsees has claims pending against Remington in South Dakota, Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma. All were brought by people who say they were injured by guns that misfired. Additionally, he represents class-action lawsuits in Washington and Missouri filed by Remington Model 700 owners who say the company should cover their losses because faulty trigger assemblies make their rifles worthless. In August, a federal judge in Washington refused Remington’s bid to dismiss the complaint.