Last Thursday, SIG SAUER announced the successful resolution of a three-year lawsuit between the company and Puerto Rico policeman Elvis Ramon Green Barrios. Barrios’ voluntarily withdrew his suit that alleged his P320 duty pistol discharged without the trigger being pulled. According to SIG’s Samantha Piatt, the win continued the company’s efforts to “put to rest the malicious and misleading attacks against one of the most popular pistols ever made.”
There’s absolutely no disputing the assertion that the SIG P320 is popular. But there’s also no way to dispute that questions regarding the P320 remain, despite SIG having successfully defended the P320 for the eighteenth time in a courtroom. SIG hasn’t convinced everyone.
The Washington State Criminal Justice System has permanently banned the P320 from all its training facilities. Officials at the WSCJS, say the ban came after their investigation revealed concerns the firearm might (our italics) discharge without pulling the trigger.
As expected, SIG vigorously denies the assertion, citing their wealth of scientific evidence produced since the first questions about the P320 were raised. Additionally, SIG says the WSCJS failed to respond to a request to examine the firearm(s) on which the decision was based.
SIG has successfully defended similar claims. Despite negative verdicts in a two recent cases, SIG points out those cases are far from decided and remain under appeal,
The Washington State Criminal Justice System’s decision was initially reported in a piece published by SAN (Straight Arrow News). That report quotes a spokesperson for the WSCJS as saying “A recruit’s firearm discharged, while drawing, without their finger on the trigger, injuring an instructor and another recruit.” SAN goes on to quote New Hampshire Public Radio regarding suits and claims from around the country. Those sources appear to have been conveniently supplied by plaintiff’s attorneys.
Last Thursday, March 13, The (Battle Ground, WA) Reflector featured a story headlined “More law enforcement agencies reconsider use of popular Sig Sauer P320 handgun”. According to that report, nearly a dozen other agencies have “pulled the P320 from their arsenals due to concerns over misfirings.”
In every instance, there seems to be a now-familiar theme: the person who suffered their alleged “uncommanded discharge” was either putting the gun into or removing it from the holster. Universally, fingers are said to be nowhere near the trigger and the victims have “no idea” how it happened.
Having caused a“negligent discharge” in the past, I would have sworn my hand was nowhere near the trigger, too. But I my occasionally “casual” gun handling has been considerably less casual after the ND than anytime before.
Despite not answering the “why” question behind unintended discharges, bans are being enacted. And despite a common theme that runs through many claims: police trainees and/or untrained civilians, often in undetermined situations of stress. As trainers remind all of us: under duress, small motor skills are the first thing to go. Unfortunately, the grasp or grip reaction isn’t one of them. It’s the reason trainers warn students not to grab for a falling gun.
And, as is often the case when faced with a potential safety issue, WSCJS officials chose the simplest administrative answer to any complicated question: simply ban the item in question.
SIG has rigorously investigated many reported incidents. Not all make it to the courtroom. One recently was discredited due to suspicions of “shade-tree gunsmithing” that may - or may not - have been performed on the P320s in question. Regardless, the discharge happened directly in front of the range owner -with the gun partially cased and fully holstered. As he explained to me: “If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
As SIG’s website says: “Contrary to prior reporting, claims that the P320 is capable of firing without a trigger pull are without merit and have been soundly rejected as a matter of law by thirteen separate courts, including a unanimous jury verdict in SIG Sauer’s favor. The P320 is trusted by the U.S. military, law enforcement professionals, and responsible citizens worldwide. Sig Sauer is extremely proud of our outstanding safety record and quality firearms.”
Despite that spirited defense, SIG has been unable to convince every jury their safety assertion is unequivocally true.
In June 2024, a Georgia jury awarded more than $2.3 million to a Georgia man who claimed injury from a holstered P320 that he asserts fired when no one touched the trigger.
SIG appealed that decision. Then on February 12 of this year, Federal Judge Eleanor R. Ross ruled against SIG, opining that SIG’s argument that the plaintiff attorneys introduced “inflammatory” and irrelevant evidence “unpersuasive.”
Judge Ross also declined to drop the judgement, writing:
“The court declines to reconsider its ruling that plaintiff’s experts were qualified to provide expert testimony in this case … Instead, the proper remedy to defendant’s critiques of plaintiff’s experts’ testimony was to allow defendant to vigorously cross-examine plaintiff’s experts and for the court to carefully instruct the jury on plaintiff’s burden of proof, as was done at trial.”
Recently, SIG has taken a far more aggressive stance toward these claims (reference their “It ends today” statement of March 7) and papers to be going on the offensive PR-wise.
In today’s litigious society, the threat of a response from the industry’s largest company is normally a pretty effective deterrent.
But my Thursday, March 13 feature pretty clearly showed that not everyone was threatened, much less quietened, by the statement. In fact, it sparked a mix of funny memes and many considered ruminations on the “P320 question.”
The ending of SIG’s statement concludes with this ominous admonition to the industry:
“Industry, take notice; ; what’s happening today to SIG SAUER with the anti-gun mob and their lawfare tactics will happen tomorrow at another firearms manufacturer, and then another. Today, for SIG SAUER - it ends. “
At least one company noticed- and clapped back.
On March 11 Smith & Wesson’s X account re-released a video of influencer Garand Thumb dropping his S&W M&P pistol from shoulder height to the ground - with nothing happening.
The explanation for the rerelease of the video is simple and pointed: “feels like a good time to bring this back.”
Ouch!
We’ll keep you posted.
— Jim Shepherd