Yesterday, when I was bloviating about how all gun owners should have a lawyer who is knowledgeable about gun and self-defense laws, Freiheit called my bluff and asked where one would find such a creature.  To be honest, I didn’t have a good answer off the top of my head, but like anyone who has ever stood in front of a Soldier of the Month board, I punted:  “Sergeant Major, I do not know the answer to that question, but I will look it up and get the answer to you.”.

I reached out to the Second Amendment Foundation and the NRA, and got a quick response from them.

The SAF maintains a lawyer referral service.  According to the SAF person who spoke with me, they can’t promise a team of angry lawyers being readily available everywhere, but they have a lawyer or two on their list in each of the 50 states.  The number to call to speak to someone about a lawyer is 425-454-7012.

The NRA also maintains a couple of numbers that members can call for referral to an attorney.  The first one is their general membership number, which is 800-672-3888.  The other number is to their NRA-ILA Grassroots office at 800-392-8683.  NRA also offers  personal liability insurance to its members to help with the cost of attorneys and any settlements/judgements that arise from a self-defense incident.

As reader Jake pointed out in comments, the United States Concealed Carry Association also maintains a list of lawyers for their members and offers insurance for self-defense related legal costs.  I need to join USCCA for a lot of reasons, but checking that out is one of them.

That’s what I’ve been able to dig up in the past day or so.  There are probably more resources out there, but sorting the wheat from the chaff on the Internet will drive a person mad.  A quick Google search for “Louisville firearm attorney” turned up a lot of lawyers who will take cases for people who violate firearms laws, but none that I could easily tell are experienced in personal liability cases dealing with firearms.   Like Freiheit said in his comment, going to the phone book isn’t the best thing to do, even with all of the information that readily available on the web.

Reader John made a point that some homeowners policies may provide coverage in the event of a self-defense related lawsuit.  I need to get mine out and give it a good, thorough reading, and I should give a call to my agent.  It may well be that the liability portion of my policy covers me, at least to some extent, when I get sued for shooting a goblin.  Freiheit made another excellent point that having a lawyer that works directly for you, in addition to any attorney that the insurance company may hire to represent both your and their interests in a lawsuit, is probably a good idea.  If you get a lawyer who’s got experience in cases that deal with firearms and self-defense, they can be a great addition to your legal team.

What this all brings home is, like I said, we should all do our homework before we need an attorney.  Learn the laws related to firearms and self-defense in your area, including where and how you can carry concealed, what is considered by a prosecutor when deciding whether or not to bring charges, about what the laws about civil litigation and liability are like in your state.  At least get the name of an attorney that knows their way around the civil and criminal systems when it pertains to self-defense gun use, contact them to establish a relationship, and have their contact information handy in the event that the world falls in on you.

Hope all this helps. Thanks to everyone who gave such great input in comments and pointed me in the right direction to find all this out.