The Short Answer
Yes — sometimes. A licensed firearms dealer in California is not automatically responsible every time a gun it sold is later used to hurt someone. If a dealer runs a clean shop, verifies the buyer, runs the background check, honors the waiting period, and the buyer later commits a crime years down the line, that dealer generally is not on the hook.
But the moment a dealer cuts corners — sells to someone visibly intoxicated, ignores a transparent straw purchase, skips the mandated waiting period, loses inventory to theft through lax security, or looks the other way while one buyer walks out with a dozen handguns a month — the legal picture changes completely. California has spent the last several years building statutes specifically designed to let injured people reach those dealers in civil court.
If you were shot in Los Angeles, or you lost a family member to gun violence, the question worth asking is not just "who pulled the trigger." It is "where did that gun come from, and did someone in the chain break the rules to put it there?" The person who pulled the trigger is often judgment-proof — no insurance, no assets, frequently incarcerated. A federally licensed dealer, by contrast, is a business with commercial general liability coverage, real estate, and inventory.
A catastrophic gunshot wound in Los Angeles routinely produces $250,000 to well over $1 million in first-year medical costs alone — trauma surgery, ICU stays, multiple revision procedures, spinal or orthopedic hardware, and long-term rehabilitation. A criminal conviction of the shooter does not pay a single one of those bills. A civil claim against a solvent, insured defendant can.
The Federal Shield — and Its Five Holes
In 2005 Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), codified at 15 U.S.C. §§ 7901–7903. The PLCAA bars most civil actions against firearms manufacturers and dealers for harm "resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse" of a gun by a third party. For two decades it has been the first thing a defense lawyer puts in a motion to dismiss.
What most people never hear is that the PLCAA is not an absolute immunity. Congress wrote six express exceptions into the statute at 15 U.S.C. § 7903(5)(A). Five of them matter to injury victims:
1. Negligent entrustment
The statute itself defines this: supplying a firearm to a person the seller "knows, or reasonably should know," is likely to use it to harm themselves or others. A clerk who sells to a customer slurring threats about an ex-partner is the textbook case.
2. Negligence per se
Violation of a safety statute that was designed to protect people like you, where the violation caused your injury.
3. The "predicate exception"
This is the big one. The PLCAA does not protect a seller who "knowingly violated a State or Federal statute applicable to the sale or marketing" of a firearm, where that violation was a proximate cause of the harm. California has enacted a dense body of firearm sales statutes precisely so that violations can serve as predicates.
4. Breach of contract or warranty
Applies where the gun itself was sold under warranty terms that were breached.
5. Design and manufacturing defect
Product liability for guns that fire when dropped, fail to engage a safety, or lack a feasible safety mechanism — where the gun discharged without the volitional act of pulling the trigger.
The PLCAA does not ask "was a gun involved?" It asks "did the defendant break a rule?" Our job as your lawyers is to find the broken rule. That is a records case, not a speech about gun policy — and it is won or lost in trace data, ATF inspection reports, and store surveillance video.
California's Firearm Industry Responsibility Act
In 2022 California enacted AB 1594, the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act, now found at California Civil Code §§ 3273.50–3273.55. It took effect July 1, 2023, and it is the most important development for California shooting victims in a generation.
The Act does three things:
- Imposes an affirmative duty. Every "firearm industry member" must establish, implement, and enforce reasonable controls regarding the manufacture, sale, distribution, and marketing of firearm-related products. Civ. Code § 3273.51(a).
- Prohibits sales practices that create a public nuisance. A firearm industry member may not knowingly create, maintain, or contribute to a condition in California that endangers public health or safety through the sale or marketing of its products.
- Creates a private right of action. Under Civ. Code § 3273.51(c), a person harmed by a violation may bring a civil action for injunctive relief, damages, and — critically — attorney's fees and costs. The California Attorney General and local city attorneys may also sue.
"Reasonable controls" is a defined term. It includes measures to prevent sales to straw purchasers, to prevent sales to people prohibited from possessing firearms, to prevent theft and loss from the dealer's own inventory, and to prevent the dealer from becoming a disproportionate source of crime guns.
That last point is where ATF trace data becomes the centerpiece of modern litigation. When a gun is recovered at a crime scene, law enforcement traces it back to the first retail sale. Aggregate that data across thousands of recoveries and patterns emerge — a small minority of dealers account for a wildly disproportionate share of guns later recovered in crimes. California's Department of Justice publishes annual firearms reporting, and both state and federal trace summaries have consistently shown this concentration. When a dealer sits at the top of that list year after year, the argument that it maintained "reasonable controls" becomes very difficult to make in front of a Los Angeles jury.
Five Ways a Gun Dealer Becomes Liable
1. Selling to a prohibited person
California Penal Code § 27500 makes it unlawful to sell or transfer a firearm to a person the seller knows or has cause to believe is prohibited. Prohibited categories include felons, people subject to domestic violence restraining orders, people with certain misdemeanor convictions, and those under specified mental health holds. Penal Code § 28220 requires the dealer to submit purchaser information to the California DOJ for a background check. Selling without a completed and approved check is both a crime and a powerful civil predicate.
2. Violating the waiting period
Penal Code § 26815 imposes a 10-day waiting period before a firearm may be delivered. That window exists precisely to allow background checks to clear and to interrupt impulsive violence. Delivering early is a direct statutory violation — and in an impulse shooting or suicide case, causation is often stark.
3. Negligent entrustment
This is a common-law claim expressly preserved by the PLCAA. It applies where the buyer's unfitness was apparent: obvious intoxication, statements of intent to harm, visible signs of crisis, or a third party doing the talking and paying while a silent "buyer" fills out the form.
4. Negligent security and inventory loss
Guns stolen from dealers flow directly into the illegal market. Federal law requires licensees to report theft or loss to ATF and local law enforcement within 48 hours. A dealer with no alarm, no safe storage after hours, no inventory audits, and a pattern of "lost" firearms has failed the "reasonable controls" standard under Civ. Code § 3273.51 in about as clean a way as the statute contemplates.
5. Negligent supervision and hiring
Dealers are responsible for their employees. A store that hires a clerk with a history of off-book sales, provides no compliance training, and sets volume-based commissions has created a foreseeable risk.
Straw Purchases and Red-Flag Sales
A straw purchase occurs when someone who can legally pass a background check buys a gun on behalf of someone who cannot. It is the single most common pipeline from a licensed storefront to a crime scene.
California Penal Code § 27515 makes it unlawful to supply, deliver, or give possession of a firearm to any person the seller "has cause to believe is not the actual purchaser." Federal law criminalizes false statements on ATF Form 4473 as well. Dealers are required to be alert; the form itself asks the buyer to certify they are the actual transferee.
Red flags a competent dealer is trained to catch include:
- A second person selecting the firearm, asking all the questions, and directing the purchase
- The non-purchaser paying — especially in cash
- A buyer who cannot describe or seems indifferent to the specific gun being bought
- Multiple handgun purchases in a short window, or repeat purchases of the same model
- The buyer reading answers off a note, or being coached during Form 4473 completion
- A buyer who returns repeatedly with different companions
When a store's surveillance footage shows every one of those flags and the sale went through anyway, you no longer have a tragedy without a defendant. You have a documented statutory violation that fits squarely inside the PLCAA's predicate exception.
Was the Gun Traced? We Can Find Out.
Trace data, dealer inspection histories, and store surveillance are not public — they are obtained through litigation, subpoenas, and public records requests. The sooner we start, the more of it still exists. Video is routinely overwritten in 30 to 90 days.
Why Los Angeles Cases Look Different
Los Angeles County is the largest local jurisdiction in the country, and firearm injury litigation here has features you will not find elsewhere:
Venue and jury pools
Cases are typically filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court — Stanley Mosk downtown, or a branch such as Van Nuys, Long Beach, Pomona, or Compton depending on where the shooting occurred and where the defendant does business. LA juries are, on balance, receptive to corporate accountability claims. That reality shapes settlement posture long before trial.
Guns cross county lines
Many firearms recovered in Los Angeles were originally sold in surrounding or Central Valley counties, where high-volume retailers operate. That is not a barrier — if the dealer's conduct caused harm in Los Angeles County, venue here is generally proper, and California's long-arm reach covers out-of-state sellers who ship into the state.
Local enforcement infrastructure
The Los Angeles City Attorney and County Counsel have both been active on firearm industry accountability, and the California Attorney General has express authority under the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act. Public enforcement actions generate discovery, findings, and admissions that private plaintiffs can build on.
Premises overlap
Many LA shootings happen on someone's property — an apartment complex, a nightclub, a parking structure, a shopping center. That opens a parallel premises liability claim against the property owner for inadequate security. We frequently pursue both tracks at once. If your injury happened on commercial property, our guide to premises liability and property owner negligence in Los Angeles explains how that duty works.
Other Defendants Beyond the Gun Store
A thorough investigation almost always identifies more than one responsible party. Depending on the facts, potential defendants include:
| Defendant | Theory of liability | Typical source of recovery |
|---|---|---|
| Licensed firearms dealer | Negligent sale, negligent entrustment, Civ. Code § 3273.51 | Commercial general liability policy, business assets |
| Property or business owner | Premises liability — inadequate security, foreseeable crime | CGL policy, umbrella coverage |
| Security company | Negligent performance of contracted security duties | Professional liability policy |
| Employer of shooter | Negligent hiring, retention, supervision | Employment practices / CGL coverage |
| Gun owner (not the shooter) | Negligent storage — Penal Code § 25100 (criminal storage of a firearm) | Homeowner's or renter's policy |
| Manufacturer | Design or manufacturing defect — unintended discharge | Product liability coverage |
| The shooter | Assault and battery — intentional tort | Often uncollectible; still named for the record |
That fifth row deserves emphasis. Negligent storage claims are among the most viable in this entire field. California Penal Code §§ 25100 and 25200 criminalize keeping a loaded firearm where a child is likely to gain access. Civil Code § 1714.3 imposes civil liability on a parent or guardian for injuries caused by a minor's discharge of a firearm the adult permitted the minor to have. And here is the practical key: homeowner's insurance is often available for negligent storage, because the negligence is the failure to secure, not the intentional shooting. Insurers fight this hard. It is worth fighting back.
How These Cases Are Actually Proven
Firearm dealer liability cases are document-intensive. Here is what a real investigation looks like:
- Identify the firearm. Make, model, serial number — usually from the criminal case file, police reports, or evidence booking records.
- Obtain the trace. ATF traces the gun from manufacturer to distributor to first retail sale. Trace results reach civil litigants through the criminal file, subpoenas, and coordination with prosecutors.
- Pull the Form 4473 and DROS record. California's Dealer Record of Sale system captures every retail transaction. The 4473 shows who signed, what they certified, and when.
- Request the dealer's ATF compliance history. Inspection reports, violation notices, and warning conferences are frequently obtainable and are devastating when they show repeat violations.
- Subpoena store surveillance. The single most valuable evidence in a straw purchase case — and the most perishable. Send a preservation letter immediately.
- Depose the clerk and the compliance officer. Training records, commission structures, and written policies (or their absence) establish whether "reasonable controls" existed.
- Retain experts. Firearms retail practices experts, ATF compliance experts, trauma physicians, life care planners, and forensic economists.
If you are reading this within weeks of a shooting, the most valuable thing you can do today is have a lawyer send litigation hold letters to the dealer, the property owner, and any security contractor. Surveillance systems overwrite on a 30-to-90-day loop. Once it's gone, it's gone.
What Your Case May Be Worth
California does not cap damages in ordinary personal injury cases. A shooting victim may recover:
Economic damages
- Emergency, surgical, and hospital care
- Future medical care, including revision surgeries and hardware replacement
- Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and psychological treatment
- Assistive devices, home modification, and attendant care
- Lost wages and diminished earning capacity
- Out-of-pocket costs and household services
Non-economic damages
- Physical pain and suffering
- Mental anguish, PTSD, anxiety, and depression
- Disfigurement and scarring
- Loss of enjoyment of life
Punitive damages
Under California Civil Code § 3294, punitive damages are available where the defendant acted with malice, oppression, or fraud — including a conscious disregard for the safety of others. A dealer that repeatedly processed obvious straw purchases while under active ATF warning is exactly the profile juries punish.
Wrongful death and survival claims
If a family member was killed, California Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60 allows a spouse, domestic partner, children, and certain dependents to bring a wrongful death claim for loss of financial support, loss of love, companionship, comfort, and guidance, and funeral and burial expenses. A separate survival action under CCP § 377.30 preserves the decedent's own claims, including — since the 2022 amendment — the decedent's pre-death pain and suffering.
Deadlines You Cannot Miss
| Claim type | Deadline | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury | 2 years from the injury | CCP § 335.1 |
| Wrongful death | 2 years from the date of death | CCP § 335.1 / § 377.60 |
| Claim against a public entity | 6 months to file a government claim | Gov. Code § 911.2 |
| Minor plaintiff | Tolled until age 18, then 2 years | CCP § 352 |
| Product defect | 2 years from injury (discovery rule may apply) | CCP § 335.1 |
Do not wait for the criminal case to finish. This is the single most common and most costly mistake. Criminal prosecutions in Los Angeles routinely take two to four years. Your civil clock is running the entire time. A civil case can be filed and then stayed if necessary — but it must be filed.
What to Do Right Now
- Get complete medical care and keep every record. Gaps in treatment are the first thing defense adjusters attack.
- Request the police report and the evidence property receipt listing the firearm's serial number.
- Write down everything you remember about the shooting while it is fresh — location, lighting, security presence, witnesses.
- Do not post about it on social media. Assume every post will be exhibited at your deposition.
- Do not give a recorded statement to any insurance company without a lawyer present.
- Apply to the California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB). It can cover immediate medical and mental health costs while your civil case develops. This does not waive your civil claim.
- Call a lawyer within days, not months. Preservation letters have to go out before video is overwritten.
If your injury also involved a vehicle — a drive-by, a road-rage shooting, or a crash that followed — there may be additional coverage available through auto policies, including uninsured motorist benefits. Our guide to car accident claims in Los Angeles covers how those policies stack.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you sue a gun store in California after being shot?
Yes, in specific circumstances. California's Firearm Industry Responsibility Act (Civ. Code § 3273.51) creates a private right of action against firearm industry members who fail to maintain reasonable controls. Traditional negligence theories — negligent entrustment and negligent sale — also survive the federal PLCAA, which contains express exceptions for dealers who knowingly violate gun sales laws.
Doesn't federal law protect gun dealers from lawsuits?
The PLCAA (15 U.S.C. §§ 7901–7903) bars many suits, but it has written exceptions: negligent entrustment, negligence per se, and the "predicate exception" for sellers who knowingly violate a state or federal statute applicable to firearm sales. California has enacted statutes specifically designed to fit within those exceptions.
What is a straw purchase and why does it matter to my case?
A straw purchase is when a legally eligible buyer purchases a gun for a prohibited person. California Penal Code § 27515 bars supplying a firearm to someone the seller has cause to believe is not the actual purchaser. If the dealer ignored obvious red flags, that statutory violation can support a claim under the PLCAA predicate exception.
What if the shooter was never caught?
You can still have a case. Civil liability against a dealer, property owner, or security company does not depend on identifying or convicting the shooter. It depends on tracing the firearm and proving the defendant's own negligence. Many strong cases proceed with the shooter unidentified.
What if a family member's gun was used?
Negligent storage claims under Penal Code §§ 25100 and 25200 and Civil Code § 1714.3 are viable, and homeowner's or renter's insurance is frequently available because the negligence is the failure to secure the weapon — not the intentional act.
How long do I have to file a shooting injury lawsuit in California?
Generally two years from the date of injury (CCP § 335.1), and two years from the date of death for wrongful death. Claims involving a public entity require a government claim within six months (Gov. Code § 911.2). Because tracing a firearm takes time, contact a lawyer early.
What damages can a shooting victim recover?
Medical bills, future care and rehabilitation, lost wages and lost earning capacity, pain and suffering, and emotional distress. In wrongful death cases: funeral costs and loss of financial and emotional support. Punitive damages are available under Civ. Code § 3294 where conduct was malicious or oppressive. Attorney's fees may be recoverable under the Firearm Industry Responsibility Act.
How much does it cost to hire InjuryAllies?
Nothing upfront. We handle California personal injury and wrongful death cases on contingency — you pay no fee unless we recover money for you. Consultations are free and confidential. Call (323) 372-1216.
The Bottom Line
Gun violence is usually treated as a criminal matter and nothing more. For victims, that framing is a dead end — a conviction does not pay for a wheelchair, a year out of work, or a lifetime of nerve pain. California law has moved deliberately in the opposite direction, creating civil pathways to hold the businesses that supply the illegal market financially accountable for the harm they enable.
The window to act is narrower than most people realize. Surveillance video disappears in weeks. Witnesses move. The statute of limitations runs while the criminal case crawls. If you or someone you love was shot in Los Angeles, a free conversation costs you nothing and may reveal a defendant no one told you existed.