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The P320 has been adopted by the Canadian military as the C22 (SIG Sauer)
The military’s latest handgun might not be safe
By Miguel Ortiz | Updated on Jul 31, 2023 | 4 minute read
https://www.wearethemighty.com/tactical/p320-militarys-latest-handgun-might-not-be-safe/
In 2017, the SIG Sauer P320 won the U.S. Army's XM17 Modular Handgun System competition. Adopted as the full-size M17 and compact M18, the P320 became the U.S. military's standard sidearm, replacing the Beretta M9. The P320 has also been adopted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as state and local police agencies. Foreign militaries and law enforcement, including Canadian Special Operations Forces and the Norwegian Police Service, have also selected the P320 as their sidearm of choice. However, SIG's flagship pistol is also the center of multiple unintended discharge investigations and lawsuits.
The P320 is a semi-automatic, striker-fired handgun. Glock's pistols, which popularized this format, feature three independent safety mechanisms that disengage sequentially as the gun is fired: an external trigger safety, internal firing pin safety and internal drop safety. After the gun fires and the trigger is released, the safeties re-engage to prevent unintended discharges. While the P320 can be had with a manual thumb safety, there is no option for a trigger safety like Glocks.
In 2016, during MHS testing, the Army noted nearly 200 "malfunctions" with the P320. Demanding that SIG Sauer address these problems, the Army agreed to accept the pistol only after an external manual safety was added. As a result, all SIG Sauer P320s sold to the military as M17s or M18s feature a thumb-activated safety on the frame. This option can be had on P320s sold on the law enforcement and civilian markets. However, SIG Sauer advertises the P320 to be safe, with or without the external safety. "We've designed safety elements into every necessary feature on this pistol," SIG says in its marketing material. "From the trigger, to the striker and even the magazine, the P320 won't fire unless you want it to.
Despite this, there have been multiple cases of unintended discharges since the P320 hit the market in 2014. In 2017, in Stamford, Connecticut, another holstered P320 fell less than three feet to the ground and fired, striking a SWAT team member in his left knee. Four days after a lawsuit was filed over this incident, SIG Sauer announced a voluntary upgrade to address drop-safety concerns. In February 2018, a P320 that fired uncommanded and wounded a Loudoun County Deputy Sheriff in Virginia was CAT scanned and found to have a defect in its internal safety. Two months later, SIG Sauer announced a second voluntary upgrade for the weapon. After 18 months of service with ICE, a reports of unintended P320 discharges that resulted in seven injuries were filed with the agency. Through December 2022, at least three additional ICE agents have been injured by P320s.
In November 2020, a Canadian Joint Task Force 2 operator was wounded in his leg by a P320 when it accidentally discharged. The weapon, which was only recently adopted by Canadian Special Forces at the time of the incident, was immediately pulled from service pending an investigation. SIG Sauer responded, claiming that the soldier used the wrong holster. A 2021 investigation cleared the P320 for use and Canada's Department of National Defence has since awarded a $3.2 million US contract for the P320 to equip its regular military.
On March 27, 2023, the Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky law firm filed a lawsuit against SIG Sauer for damages resulting from unintended firings by P320s. The plaintiffs include civilians, law enforcement officers and even an Army firearms instructor who were injured by P320s that fired when they weren't supposed to. "We are calling on Sig Sauer to do what it should have done long ago – recall the P320 weapon and redesign the gun with the types of safeties used by its competitors," said attorney Robert Zimmerman in a statement from the firm. "We fear that more and more Americans- law enforcement and responsible gun owners alike- will continue to fall victim to this weapon until Sig makes the reasonable choice to protect its customer base and the community at large."
On July 24, 2023, during an arrest in the lobby of the Montville Police Station in Connecticut, an officer's holstered P320 fired without the trigger being pulled. Although no one was inured, Chief Wilfred Blanchette reacted immediately and placed a $20,000 order for Glock handguns to replace his department's P320s. "I don't feel comfortable with our officers maintaining these [SIG Sauer] guns," Blanchette said in a department statement. "Montville police will be equipped with Glock 9mm handguns in the very near future." Despite over 100 reported cases of unintended P320 discharges across the country, there have been no reports of unintended discharges with the military's M17 or M18 pistols.
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