Sig Sauer's P320 banned by Chicago Police Department and other law enforcement agencies
Around the same time the Army was embracing the Sig Sauer P320 as its new official sidearm, it began gaining a reputation for controversy, with numerous investigations and lawsuits surrounding it.
Videos posted on the internet showed that the P320 could fire if dropped at a certain angle or was struck on the back of the slide. The handgun was not recalled; however, Sig Sauer offered a voluntary trigger upgrade and implemented changes to P320 production in the future.
Aside from the impact-firing issue, the P320 has also come under legal fire for 'uncommanded discharges,' a very nice way of saying the weapon could fire even if someone hadn't pulled the trigger. Plaintiffs, ranging from law enforcement professionals to experienced civilian owners, allege that their P320 fired without the trigger being pulled, often while the handgun was holstered.
Reports like these can even be found involving the military version of the P320, like the case of a Marine Corps-issued M18 pistol going off in its holster.
In June 2024, a federal jury in Georgia awarded Robert Lang $2.3 million in a lawsuit against Sig Sauer for his P320 shooting him in the thigh as he removed it from its holster. Five months later, a Philadelphia jury awarded an Army veteran $11 million after his personal P320 shot him in the thigh while it was holstered.
Those are just the military-related complaints. Sig Sauer vowed to appeal these rulings and maintains that the P320 is safe and cannot fire without the trigger being pulled. Law enforcement officers have filed similar complaints—and in some cases, personal lawsuits.
Despite Sig's assurances, multiple law enforcement agencies across the country have banned the P320 following incidents of similar uncommanded discharges.
In 2017, after discharge issues with the P320 first surfaced, the Dallas Police Department suspended use of the P320 as a safety precaution. While the standard-issue sidearm for the Dallas PD is the Sig Sauer P226, other handguns, including various models of Glock pistols, are approved for use. The department has not reversed its suspension of the P320 since.
In 2019, Officer Craig Jacklyn of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) experienced an uncommanded discharge of his issued P320 while on patrol. Jacklyn is a Marine Corps veteran who served as a Marksmanship Instructor and spent over two decades with SEPTA as a law enforcement officer.
Shortly after the incident, a SEPTA investigation concluded that there was no cause for the uncommanded discharge, and the agency made an emergency purchase of 350 Glock 17 pistols and holsters to replace the P320.
In 2022, the Milwaukee Police Department announced that it would replace the P320 with the Glock 45 as the department-issued duty weapon. The decision was made following multiple unintended discharges within the department, which prompted the Milwaukee Police Association to file a lawsuit against the city. MPD reported that three officers had been injured since 2020.
In October 2024, the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (WSCJTC) imposed a temporary ban on the handgun following an uncommanded discharge by a recruit with an issued P320. Both the recruit and the firearms instructor at the scene affirmed that the trigger was not pulled.
Following a thorough review by the WSCJTC, which involved law enforcement professionals from across the state and representatives from Sig Sauer, the ban became permanent in February 2025.
'My position has to be safety because we know so much now that if I make a different decision, I don't feel like I'm being responsible,' WSCJTC Executive Director Monica Alexander told KING 5 News.
In April 2025, the Denver Police Department notified officers who qualified with the P320 that the weapon is 'No longer considered safe for duty or backup carry.'
The department confirmed that its Firearms Unit evaluated the P320 and was able to recreate safety issues. Interestingly, the department's ban came a month before a YouTube video was posted by LFD Research, which documents their recreation of an issue that allows the P320 to fire without the trigger being pulled. The Denver Police Department has not specified the issue recreated by its Firearms Unit.
Perhaps the most significant ban on the P320 is by the Chicago Police Department, the second-largest police department in the nation.
An affidavit by CPD Range Master Sgt. Wasim M. Said affirms that the department's Firearms Training Section reported possible issues with the P320. Said's investigation into the P320 revealed at least 33 officers injured across 18 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. Although Said and the FTS could not replicate a problem on six of CPD's P320s, FTS temporarily suspended the P320 as a Prescribed Duty Weapon on February 28, 2025.
On April 7, 2025, Said's findings were presented to the CPD Arsenal Committee, which voted unanimously to phase out the P320. On April 18, 2025, the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police penned a letter to CPD's Superintendent regarding the decision by the Arsenal Committee. The letter notes that Chicago Police Academy recruits had already been notified that the P320 is no longer prescribed for purchase or use and calls for prompt action to mitigate the risk to both police officers and citizens.
We Are The Mighty is a celebration of military service, with a mission to entertain, inform, and inspire those who serve and those who support them. We are made by and for current service members, veterans, spouses, family members, and civilians who want to be part of this community. Keep up with the best in military culture and entertainment: subscribe to the We Are The Mighty newsletter.
SIG P320 engineering review recommended in Marine Corps report
SIG Sauer's legal battles and why the XM7 might not replace the M4
The military's latest handgun might not be safe
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
National Guard troops appear in DC as part of Trump show of force
National Guard troops have started showing up in the nation's capital after President Trump activated them to patrol Washington's streets, arguing that crime has gotten out of control. The District of Columbia Army National Guard began patrolling the streets Tuesday, and a group of service members met with Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll. Several Guard forces and Humvees were seen near the Washington Monument on the National Mall, an area of the city generally seen as safe. 'The speed at which the troops are making it in is happening quicker. As we get enough soldiers in, they are tasked to help civilian law enforcement,' a defense official told The Hill's sister network NewsNation. 'As soon as tonight you'll see soldiers out.' Around 800 total National Guard members will work in shifts of about 200 each. The locations were drawn out by the police task force, another defense official told NewsNation. Trump announced Monday at the White House that the Justice Department would take over oversight of the Metropolitan Police Department, declaring a crime emergency in the nation's capital under the city's Home Rule Act. The order has sparked pushback from other mayors, national Democrats and activists. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) used the federal takeover as a platform to again call for the District's statehood on Tuesday. 'We have seen a precipitous lessening of crime in the city, violent crime, especially after a post-COVID spike that we acknowledge, and we got after, and we drove down the numbers in 2023. We reported last year the lowest level of violent crime in 30 years,' she said on 'The Breakfast Club' radio show. 'So, we're not taking our foot off the gas.' Others have stuck behind the president, including his former Attorney General Bill Barr. 'I think the president's right on the money, and I think Judge Pirro laid out the case very well, and I'm glad she's there, because she has the right idea of what needs to be done in this town,' Barr said on Fox News's 'America Reports,' while referring to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro. The White House said that 23 people were arrested by federal officials Monday night for a wide variety of charges ranging from homicide and stalking to reckless driving and drug dealing, among others. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
New York Times
19 hours ago
- New York Times
National Guard Detained Man Who Assaulted a Park Police Officer, Authorities Say
D.C. National Guard soldiers temporarily detained a man on Friday who the authorities say assaulted a U.S. Park Police officer on the National Mall. It was the first such action by the Guard since President Trump ordered 800 Guard troops to the streets of the capital this week to help fight crime. Local officials have criticized the deployment as unnecessary. The Park Police officer asked for help after being thrown to the ground during an altercation with the man, an Army spokesman said. A National Guard team observed the incident and asked if the officer needed help, the spokesman said. When the officer said yes, the Guard team pursued and detained the person about a block away. The man was escorted back to the Park Police officer and transferred to Park Police custody, the spokesman said. The Park Police said in an email that the person had been arrested on the charge of assault on a police officer, and would make an appearance in court on Saturday. The Guard members deployed in Washington do not have arrest authority, but are authorized to temporarily detain people until federal authorities take them into custody. This week, they have largely been a presence near monuments or around high-profile buildings like Union Station. Much of the heightened police activity in other parts of the city in recent days has involved D.C. police officers, along with federal agents from the F.B.I. and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The Hill
19 hours ago
- The Hill
Rapper Sean Kingston sentenced to prison for $1 million fraud scheme
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Rapper Sean Kingston was sentenced to three and a half years in prison Friday after being convicted of a $1 million fraud scheme in which he leveraged his fame to dupe sellers into giving him luxury items that he then never paid for. Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, and his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, were each convicted in March by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. Turner was sentenced to five years in prison last month. Before U.S. Judge David Leibowitz handed down Kingston's sentence, the singer apologized to the judge in the South Florida courtroom and said he had learned from his actions. His attorney asked if he could self-surrender at a later date due to health issues, but the judge ordered him taken into custody immediately. Kingston, who was wearing a black suit and white shirt, removed his suit jacket and was handcuffed and led from the courtroom. Kingston, 35, and his mother were arrested in May 2024 after a SWAT team raided Kingston's rented mansion in suburban Fort Lauderdale. Turner was taken into custody during the raid, while Kingston was arrested at Fort Irwin, an Army training base in California's Mojave Desert, where he was performing. According to court records, Kingston used social media from April 2023 to March 2024 to arrange purchases of high-end merchandise. After negotiating deals, Kingston would invite the sellers to one of his high-end Florida homes and promise to feature them and their products on social media. Investigators said that when it came time to pay, Kingston or his mother would text the victims fake wire receipts for the luxury merchandise, which included a bulletproof Escalade, watches and a 19-foot (5.9-meter) LED TV, investigators said. When the funds never cleared, victims often contacted Kingston and Turner repeatedly but were either never paid or received money only after filing lawsuits or contacting law enforcement. Kingston, who was born in Florida and raised in Jamaica, shot to fame at age 17 with the 2007 hit 'Beautiful Girls,' which laid his lyrics over Ben E. King's 1961 song 'Stand By Me.' His other hits include 2007's 'Take You There' and 2009's 'Fire Burning.'
