Northrop is not an inexperienced shooter; He spent the last 18 years as a reserve officer with the Tampa Police Department after 30 years of full-time service in the department. But his gun had exploded in his holster that night in February 2020, when his hand only touched it when he was clutching his keys to his belt, according to a complaint he filed against Sig Sauer. In fact, nearly 30 law enforcement officers fired their Sig service weapons without pulling the trigger, sometimes injuring themselves or others, the lawsuit claims. In Pennsylvania, a State Trooper weapons instructor even killed another officer in 2015 when his gun exploded while he was undergoing security training. Law enforcement officials began reporting problems with the P320 to the company in February 2016, according to Northrop`s lawsuit. For example, several lawsuits against Sig Sauer, including Northrop`s, involve an officer in Roscommon, Michigan, whose department-issued P320 was fired while driving his car. The bullet did not hit the officer, but the driver`s seat. SIG SAUER combines cutting-edge product innovation with decades of proven field experience to develop the strongest and most accurate pistols, rifles, optics, silencers and ammunition for law enforcement. Our mission at SIG SAUER is to provide our law enforcement experts with a complete weapon system they can rely on to survive in all circumstances. “The P320 meets and exceeds all U.S. safety standards, including the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers` Institute, Inc. (SAAMI) as well as rigorous testing protocols for global military and law enforcement agencies.
Just three days later, the company launched a voluntary product replacement program. But Sauer says it was designed to improve performance, not to solve a security issue. The exchange program, which gives customers the option to send their P320 to Sig Sauer, who applies the lighter trigger as well as other parts developed using military feedback, was offered as a volunteer. On another day in his nearly 50-year law enforcement career, Bob Northrop was on patrol at a high school baseball game when he heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. Northrop isn`t the only law enforcement officer suing the gun giant for accidental discharges. In February, a former Navy and U.S. Immigration and customs officials filed a $10 million lawsuit against the gun manufacturer after his P320 was unloaded into his leg. The arms manufacturer has not yet responded to the complaint.
In June, a police officer in Cambridge, Massachusetts, filed a civil lawsuit in federal court after his service weapon was fired alone into a SWAT team car with six other officers. No one was injured in the incident. Sig Sauer filed a motion to dismiss the case this month, arguing that the weapon has been thoroughly tested and “meets or exceeds all relevant safety standards.” And the dangers of P320 models purchased by law enforcement agencies across the country and the problems for the men and women of his industry are of deep concern to him. I keep hearing from other officers who have been hearing this after me, and yet nothing has been done to resolve this issue,” he told VICE News. “We are in public every day, and anyone we respond to in their home because of a burglary or accident on the highway. They are just as risky as we are. “While Sig Sauer was out of public view to renegotiate and redesign the gun platform at the request of the military, they continued to sell the unredesigned and unimproved firearm to the general public, to national law enforcement officials, and they did so without saying a word about what was happening with the testing process. Gurney said. “The bottom line is that this is a public safety issue,” Northrop`s attorney, Nicholas Gurney, told VICE News. “Based on what we have learned, discovered and claimed, this firearm, make and model, is inherently capable of firing if the trigger is not activated.” Sig Sauer markets its weapons specifically to law enforcement teams and has become a major supplier to police across the country, including large departments like Dallas, Cincinnati and Tampa, as well as smaller, more rural departments in states like Georgia, Connecticut and New Jersey. In 2018, the company even started manufacturing a P320 “Special Addition Thin Blue Line” pistol. Sig also has multimillion-dollar contracts to supply the Army and Marines with variants of the handgun.
The Legion P226 is clad in Cerakote Elite Legion gray, the G-10 handles® customized with a Legion medallion, the highly visible day/night SIG SAUER Electro-Optics X-RAY visor comes with three magazines. The P226 in DA/SA features a reduced and streamlined elite beaver tail that allows for higher grip but a reduced profile, eliminating printing. More aggressive front belt control and additional under-trigger control improve grip. An X-Five undercut was. Designed, manufactured and manufactured in America and ready to use when and where the need arises. The malfunctions occurred when the company continued to market the handgun line under its advertising slogan “Safety Without Compromise” and even went so far as to say in the marketing materials included in the lawsuit: “The P320 will not fire unless you want to.” Sig Sauer knew that this statement was false, or at least very carefully designed to mislead public audiences at the time,” Northrop`s complaint reads.