P320 Drama Continues—Somerset County Sheriff’s Deputy Sues SIG Sauer over Discharge

Another law enforcement officer sued SIG Sauer in what seems is a never ending drama over their allegedly unsafe P320 handgun. Detective David A. Cole filed the suit in Somerset County Superior Court, and alleges SIG Sauer: designed a defective firearm and negligently marketed it without warning customers of its flaws.

Brief Background of the Claims the SIG P320 is Unsafe—

SIG's P320 modular, striker-fired handgun debuted in 2014 and challenged Glock's universal claim to the Law Enforcement duty firearm market. However, around three years later, Omaha Outdoors uncovered and reported on an issue where, if someone dropped their P320 and the back part of the slide struck the ground at a certain angle, the gun could fire on its own. SIG Sauer did not recall the firearm, but offered a trigger upgrade that addressed this issue.

It appeared no sooner than the internet stopped with the relentless jokes about P320 firing when dropped; another issue seemed to pop up.

In 2018, reports of P320 pistols firing on their own surfaced. The issues involved civilians and law enforcement officers who claimed with no trigger manipulation, their P320s discharged. Many of the guns involved in these alligations had the upgraded trigger, and did not involve being dropped. A commonality was that the guns fired while they were being carried in a holster.

Individual and class action lawsuits claiming SIG Sauer is being deficient in addressing a known safety issue with the gun grew, causing many law enforcement agencies across the country to stop using the P320 as their assigned duty handgun. If you're interested in reading a bit more about these legal battles, check out this post called, Is the Sig Sauer P320 Handgun Safe to Carry, or Can it Fire on its Own?

Recent Claim of a Self-Discharging SIG P320—

Now on to this recent filing by Detective David A. Cole. In a press conference conducted by his attorneys from the law firm Saltz, Mongeluzzi and Bendesky, laid out their complaint. This is what they claim happened.

On May 4, 2022, Cole and other law enforcement officers were executing a search warrant in Sangerville. After completing the search, Cole exited a building. According to attorneys, Cole had both of his hands holding his jacket, away from his holstered P320 handgun.

While walking to his vehicle, Cole and the other officers heard a gunshot, immediately assuming that they were being fired upon.

They took cover and moments later, Cole realized a bullet from his holstered, department-issued P320 struck his right leg. The bullet fractured several bones as it entered and exited through his thigh, then re-entered his calf, where it lodged in his ankle. Cole was transported to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery, followed by months of physical therapy and “permanent physical and emotional injury”.

Cole's attorneys say the suit intends to hold SIG Sauer accountable for its “unreasonably dangerous designed firearm” and the injuries Cole sustained.

You can see a video of the press conference embedded below.

 In conclusion—

I've followed this issue from the beginning and I had no dog in the fight back then, and I still don't.

There are over 100 different claims of SIG P320s firing without the user pressing the trigger.

I'm sure many will disagree, but I think some of these accounts are real, and some are because of user error. There are just too many accounts to lump them all in as negligence on the gun owners part. I'm not even going to speculate on the number of each, because I don't think it matters. Here is what matters. If only one of the 100 incidents is real, is it a concern? I think the answer is yes, especially if you're the one who owns that sole lemon.

People who know a lot more about the P320's engineering say that the design makes it impossible for the gun to fire without pressing the trigger. I believe them. I don't think SIG Sauer designed the gun to fire on its own. But even if just one claim is legit, something happened that SIG Sauer didn't design the gun to do.

Could it be something in the manufacturing process, like a defective component or a tolerance that is out of specification in a specific production run of firearms? Could it be something that happens under a certain combination of unconnected conditions? I think it's worth looking into.

If I'm proven wrong on this issue, I'll be happy.

It's probably much better to learn that every person claiming their P320 fired on its own is a money hungry, blame shifting, negligent firearm owner. If not, then a well-respected firearm manufacturer put millions of firearms in the hands of people,  knowing there was a safety issue. And if that is the case—and I'm not saying it is—it wouldn't matter how safe any other SIG handgun is. I would abandon the company out of principle.

Frankly, I don't know how long these lawsuits can continue before we see some resolution. I hope that some documents and depositions will become available and we will see what really is going on. The public deserves to know, especially those who carry them on duty or out of preference.

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