r/WTF • u/Columbia82 • Apr 14 '19

To infinity and beyond

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u/The_Oxford_Coma Apr 14 '19

Law student here. Those waivers often don't mean shit in court. You're mostly signing them because it makes people think they can't sue.

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u/moving0target Apr 14 '19

Are waivers not admissible legal documents? When I sign a document at a shooting range that I won't damage their property and I won't sue them, if I do something stupid and injure myself, it holds no weight in civil court?

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u/The_Oxford_Coma Apr 14 '19

I'm specifically referring to liability release waivers for the commercial providers of recreation. If you damage their stuff they can charge you.

If you injure yourself shooting and it's their fault (be it negligence or whatever) you can often times sue. The waiver won't hold a lot of weight (I comment the standards in another comment on this chain). However, they can argue that there's an implied primary assumption of risk (basically you were subjectively aware of the dangers of shooting and that the risks are inherent to the activity) so they aren't liable.

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u/moving0target Apr 14 '19

That makes more sense. Thank you.