SIG SAUER P320

A federal jury has awarded $2.3 million to Robert Lang, a Georgia man, in a product liability case against gunmaker Sig Sauer, after he was shot by his own P320 pistol without allegedly pulling the trigger. The case marks the first time the New Hampshire-based firearms manufacturer has been found liable for a misfiring P320 pistol, which is the subject of multiple lawsuits claiming it has a design flaw that makes it prone to unintentional firing, New Hampshire Public Radio reports.

Lang, a self-described lifelong gun enthusiast who said in court documents that he has “hundreds of hours behind the trigger,” sued Sig Sauer after being shot in the thigh by his P320 pistol in December 2018 while removing it from its holster. According to his complaint, the gun discharged before he could lift it off his belt. The jury found Sig Sauer negligent due to the design of the weapon, particularly its lack of a trigger safety. Despite the concerns raised by others in lawsuits, court records indicate that more than 2.5 million P320 pistols have been sold, making it one of the country’s most popular guns. Most of those P320 owners have never had an issue with their firearm.

Sig Sauer announced plans to appeal the ruling, stating that the plaintiff did not meet the burden of proof to show the P320 was defectively or negligently designed. The company claims there is no evidence that Lang’s discharge was due to anything other than his own negligent handling causing him to pull the trigger.

According to New Hampshire Public Radio, since 2018, Sig Sauer “has been sued dozens of times” from both civilians and law enforcement officers alleging a design flaw in the P320. Until this week’s verdict in Georgia, no cases had resulted in a finding of liability against the company, though two cases were settled out of court.

In 2017, the news report notes, concerns about the P320’s risk of firing when dropped led Sig Sauer to initiate a voluntary upgrade of the gun, including changes to the trigger and striker. Despite these changes, the company maintains that the original design is safe. That same year, the U.S. Army adopted a version of the P320 as its official sidearm in a deal worth more than $500 million, with the Marine Corps, Air Force, and Navy also selecting the Sig Sauer pistol for use. The military’s version, known as the M17 and M18, features an external safety.

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85 COMMENTS

    • It’s time for planting,,, something. Should have have been ‘Sour’, this is not over and the courts are going to ‘milk’ this as far as they can.

    • A sign of AI? I guess that’s a “contributor”. However I’m not a Sig fanboy & was unimpressed shooting my friends 365. I’m definitely unimpressed with most cop’s🙄

      • waterhead…I’m unimpressed with fix it for me trigger pulling blowbags who denigrate a firearm solely by its country of origin. Funny thing is I do not see fix it for me blowbags objecting to a firearm manufactured in a US Gun Control State. So why does a firearm manufactured in a Gun Control state in the US a country with a long History of Slavery and other atrocities get a pass on origin? Using your Made in China device please explain the unexplainable and include the word hypocrisy.

          • TTAG needs a whole silo of BBG doused over the whole site. A tanker load of miner soot remover could be spread too with one of those foaming hoses (hoeses?) they use on the runway when an aircraft is coming in for a bad landing. Maybe Walmart sells BBG in 55 gallon drums? S sandwich-eating hoses.

            • That’s funny, I was sitting out front here about an hour ago and saw a plane go over….REALLY low. I mean like 100′ agl. Being a pilot myself, I figured he was going down because he was so low and hardly any engine noise. He crashed at Horizon Middle School, Spokane Valley, WA N4059D

        • I rarely reply to trolls especially one as vile as you princess debbie. This crummy phone I’m using is LG which is no longer manufacturing phones. Run out of business from Chinese & South Korean phones. I chose what I buy whether it’s not a traitor brand(Springfield) or an enemy of America/Israel from the sultanate of Turkey.

          • I buy whether it’s not a traitor brand(Springfield) or an enemy of America/Israel from the sultanate of Turkey.

            Turkey never attacked a US Navy ship in international waters. Israel did that in 1967, killing 34 American sailors and wounding 171.

            It’s worth reading through all the relevant documents/testimony assembled by the USS Liberty Veterans Association. They believe, based on sum of evidence, that Israel understood who and what they were attacking, and that the argument that this resulted from ship misidentification is implausible.

            Email from Commander David Lewis, USN (ret), USS LIBERTY survivor and US Navy cryptologist, to Commander Tom Schaaf, USN (ret), distinguished US Naval aviator:
            http://bit.ly/3xvKjub

            USS Liberty Document Center:
            https://bit.ly/4bfWmK2

            I used to be firmly in Ben Shapiro’s “Israel is are greatest ally” camp until about 2005 or so. But I now think I was mistaken, and that America has more foreign opponents and domestic traitors than we’d like to believe.

          • “I’m using is LG which is no longer manufacturing phones. Run out of business from Chinese & South Korean phones“

            Just to clarify for you, LG phones are manufactured in South Korea:

            “LG Electronics Inc. (Korean: 엘지 전자; RR: Elji Jeonja) is a South Korean multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea”

        • …the US a country with a long History of Slavery and other atrocities get a pass on origin?”

          It was a tiny blip on the radar next to the history of slaves in the Muslim world, which includes the Ottoman Turks. Muslims had institutionalized slavery a millennia before the US even existed. The US inherited slavery from the Empire they rebelled against and overthrew. It was embedded such that it was going to take a massive fight to rid the country of it. Put down the NY Times, and look into how the US abolished slavery, which still exists to this day in the Muslim world.

  2. has “hundreds of hours behind the trigger,” – irrelevant bloviating BS.

    Or perhaps he was complacent inattentive? Then some ambulance chasing antigun shyster hired him.

    • It’s not the beginner woodworkers / shooters who lose fingers / shoot themselves. It’s the experienced ones who get caught up in the routine and stop paying attention.

    • Hey neiowa, I hope you’re surviving the floods, 15 inches of rain in just a few hours it’s catastrophic.

      I know the rock Valley area has suffered pretty extensively, hope you and your home are OK.

  3. I thought a SIG SOWER was female German piglet, but I guess the AI system cranking these stories out knows better.

  4. “hundreds of hours behind the trigger,”
    said Alec Baldwin and the laughter was heard for miles.

        • I’d rather be in a pour house with a beer glass in front of me than in the poor house. Maybe even on a German pour house with some sig sauerkraut on the side.

    • Actually, what is strange is no one has ever in over a century accused a 1911 of doing that…

      Full stop.

      Someone calculated that if you dropped one onto concrete from 30′ up, and it hit just perfect, the firing pin might have enough momentum to detonate a primer. Hence the annoying Series 80 with the firing pin block.

      Don’t think it ever actually happened, though.

  6. 300 plus “revisions” of the “$185.00 Military Version” already in a gun with @ forty parts? Short Pants, Pony Tail, Teva Sandal, Bushy Beard, Earring Wearer firearms…
    Plus choice of trendy eye and ear pro, Bro!

  7. Not a huge fan of the p320, but it seems like these self firing p320 pistols always seem to do so while some idiot has their hand wrapped around the grip. Mechanical things do break and wear out, but this one seems suspicious.

  8. This is why I prefer my Third Generation Smith and Wesson pistols. Not only do they have a magazine disconnect safety, they have a manual safety that rotates the firing pin out of alignment with the primer. About the only way one can get it to fire on its own is to hide it in your oven then turn the oven on. The one exemption might be if Alec Baldwin was handling it.

    • On my third generation 6906, the safety rotates a hammer block up and drops the hammer.

      • Dammit Miner, this is why I hate technology…. while you were crossing the road with your face buried in your I-phone looking up this tidbit to “impress” us with your vast firearms knowledge, the car that SHOULD have run your dumb ass over stopped all by itself, due to the government mandated Emergency Pedestrian Braking System.
        Next time, step out in front of a semi.
        On a freeway.

        • “Next time, step out in front of a semi”

          How Christian of y’all, wishing death upon someone you have a political disagreement with.

          Jesus, please deliver me from your followers.

          • You really should try out for a starring role on some daytime soap opera – you’re a fucking natural

            • Just make sure to shy away from inside of a church roles.
              Lightning strikes inside of a soundstage can still happen.

  9. I’ve seen a few unintentional discharges. Only one accidental one. There is nothing accidental about pressing the trigger and the firearm functioning as designed.

    • Serious question Gadsden, What is the difference between unintentional and accidental? I’m not looking for an argument just an explanation.

      • muckraker, unintentional is when the person admits they had a finger on the trigger and accidental is when they won’t admit they had a finger on the trigger.

  10. The 1st thing I do when I get a gen 3 S&W semi auto is remove the magazine safety. I do the samething on any hand gun that I buy that has a magazine disconnect. I wouldn’t own a gun with a magazine safety/disconnect if there isn’t a way to remove it. Won’t buy a revolver with Hillary hole in the side of it either.

    • I haven’t bought or owned a S&W since the day they stabbed gun-owners in the back during the Clinton administration. Many have forgotten or forgiven, but I never will.

  11. “…the plaintiff did not meet the burden of proof to show the P320 was defectively or negligently designed.”

    All that matters in the end is how the non-expert jury feelz.

  12. Seems pretty sketch to rely on a jury of randos to decide the merits of an engineered design.

    A jury of randos also said glyphosate causes cancer. Maybe it does (probably does) but a jury opinion shouldn’t be seen as the same thing as decades of rigorous scientific testing, tracking and researching. Jury decision is really just mob rule. A smaller mob but a mob nonetheless and mobs are made up of people and people are really fucking stupid regardless of how many little credentials hang on the wall.

    Should we let juries decide on your next surgery? The next bridge design? Getting to the moon?

    Trigger safety? Really? I can’t not activate the stupid blade on my Glocks. A more useless safety there isn’t.

    • “Maybe it does (probably does)”

      Sorta like coffee. What pisses me off is people claiming it causes cancer makes it more likely to cause cancer. Glyphosate flat out does not cause cancer. If it did everybody would have it. The various surfactants and carriers potentially could cause cancer, but currently do not. But what motive does a manufacturer have to do the right thing if paying out gigantic damages is a given no matter what the facts are?

      • “Exposure to glyphosate-based herbicides and risk for non-Hodgkin lymphoma: A meta-analysis and supporting evidence
        Luoping Zhang et al. Mutat Res Rev Mutat Res. 2019 Jul-Sep.”
        “Overall, in accordance with findings from experimental animal and mechanistic studies, our current meta-analysis of human epidemiological studies suggests a compelling link between exposures to GBHs and increased risk for NHL.“

        https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31342895/

        • A meta-analysis is bullshit, particularlyin the case where the sample has been biased by redaction.

          If the effect is there, in vivo studies or population stats would show it clearly. Particularly a chemical that is in universal heavy use since 1976. There probably ain’t a human on the planet has not been exposed. Is NHL thru the roof? Not hardly.

          • “There probably ain’t a human on the planet has not been exposed“

            Regardless of the particular effect, what gives multinational chemical corporations the right to expose every human on the planet to their laboratory experiments?

            We have no problem with whatever you’re doing on your own property, but what gives you the right to disseminate your designer poisons throughout the air we breathe and the water we drink?

            Well, I guess we’re making progress, you’re willing to publicly admit that the chemical corporations are willfully exposing everyone on the planet to their toxic biological agents.

            • While the gene modified crops with roundup resistance are a concern the various FDA approved substances allowed into the food supply are far more worrying.

              • All crops are gene modified. All plants are gene modified. All life is gene modded. Evolution is real…

                Eating corn with resistance to glyphosate does not create health concerns.

                Your point about “added value” to the food supply has the potential to be the trust thing anyone ever said.

            • Leftists love mass starvation. They were SO disappointed when the popularion bomb was out-produced…

              … and to this day, when ignoring the science presents an opportunity to create hysteria in the masses, they JUMP on it.

              By their fruits shall ye know them.

              • Ok then enjoy your corn syrup in everything. Minute changes in gene selection over generations spanning centuries does not seem to be the same category as modern gene modifications. With that out of the way yes commies do love a good starvation but I don’t think they would mind a cancer/diabetes/other health issues disaster to take advantage of. And whether it is the tech, food processing, or other additions down the line hardly matters when every step along the way has about as much agency capture as the NIH with a similar emotional defense against criticism or investigation.

          • “why’s there never a semi around when you need one?“

            Sounds like another Christian whining, willfully wishing death upon those they disagree with.

            Jesus would be so proud!

            • Miner, you really need to come up with yet another online persona to explore this new side of things…. perhaps some takeoff on Father Flanagan.

    • “rigorous scientific testing, tracking and researching”

      That went out the window with COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. A few animal tests and a rubber stamp from a captured regulatory agency are all that are required now.

      Scientists, engineers and government regulators do not have your interests at heart.

  13. Take the accused P320 and chamber it, put it a paint bucket, take it to Home Depot and put it in the paint shaker for 5 minutes. If it does not discharge it is more likely the owner’s fault.
    If appears Sig designed their chassis FCG completely around Glock whereas Sar wisely took Glock and put it in a chassis. Bottom line carry without a loaded chamber and when loaded keep all firearms pointing in a safe direction. Very Good Video…
    https://youtube.com/watch?v=4Up-WLLeg2o&feature=shared

  14. I’m sure Granny shopping for flowers in the garden center will appreciate that 9mm zinging past her head!

  15. I don’t buy the unholstering version of events. TTAG proved the original 320 was not drop safe, but that is not the same thing as it firing on its own.

  18. The 320 has a safety problem. And the US military contract is a great deal of money. Folks really need to go research the “military industrial complex” they complain about so much.

    There have been plenty of companies that sold crap to the military. While the generals usually made a few extra dollars in their pockets.

    And the “gun community” really seems to be providing cover for Sig and other more favored gun companies. Taurus and Hi Point are not in the “good guys” club.

    People were singing the praise of Remington. Right up to when they went bankrupt. Magazine articles about how great their guns were.

    • Tail wags dog. Sig is a bit player Boeing is a bit more relevant for the larger issues.

        • Was more going with recent issues with fake titanium and whistleblowers (yes plural) getting a case of the Arkansas flu before testimony. But yeah lot of corrupt and darker dealings go on even before we get to foreign policy concerns or their connections to various Covid vaccines and contact tracing. With that said would keep an eye on the Saudi oil/terrorism topics as that has some potential for dramatic upsets.

  23. Given the number of incidents involving the P…I’d say that the probability of the weapon has some sort of design flaw is pretty well confirmed.

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