A military police sergeant stood chatting with his supervisor inside an office at Fort Eustis in Virginia when another soldier, on his way to the refrigerator, tried to squeeze past him.
That’s when their gun holsters made contact.
“All I remember was the clanking” of the two holsters, the sergeant would later tell an Army investigator, according to a military report, “and [the] gun shot.”
A bullet from the sergeant’s own gun ripped through his ankle, leading to surgery and six months of rehabilitation. Photos included in the Army’s report from 2023 appear to show a bloodstained carpet.
“Don’t feel safe around those weapons anymore,” the sergeant later told investigators.
The gun that wounded the sergeant is a version of one of the country’s most popular pistols: Sig Sauer’s P320, which is manufactured in New Hampshire. The gun has also been at the center of dozens of lawsuits claiming it has a design or manufacturing flaw that leaves it susceptible to these types of incidents: people being shot by their own gun, without a trigger pull.
The shooting at Fort Eustis is one of nine separate incidents involving the P320 recorded at U.S. military bases between September 2020 and June 2023 that echo the claims made in many of the lawsuits against Sig Sauer, according to newly released records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Those records describe instances of guns allegedly firing unintentionally at Army, Marine Corps and Air Force bases stretching from California to Jordan to Japan.
In a statement, Sig Sauer said that “claims that the P320 is capable of firing without a trigger pull are without merit,” and that the gun remains trusted by armed forces around the world.
The Army, for its part, denies the guns involved in these incidents displayed any “material flaws.” An Army spokesperson said the Sig Sauer guns were extensively tested and function well.
“The pistol remains in service with all the services at this time without restrictions,” the spokesperson said.
In 2017, the Army adopted a version of the gun as its new standard-issue sidearm for soldiers. The Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force all followed suit. Today, there are nearly 500,000 of these guns hanging on the hips of soldiers stationed around the globe.
The military initially told New Hampshire Public Radio that it worked with specialists from Sig Sauer to review these incidents, but when asked for details about what role the company played, an Army spokesperson reversed course and said that representatives from Sig Sauer were not, in fact, part of any military review.
The P320, from civilian to military model
Sig Sauer’s P320 model was first released in 2014 and has gone on to become one of the most popular guns in America, with more than 2.5 million units sold. On the gunmaker’s website, the company touts a commitment to “safety without compromise.”
In 2017, the Department of Defense selected the P320 as its standard sidearm for soldiers, following a multi-year competition to replace the Beretta M9.
To date, Sig Sauer has delivered nearly half a million pistols across all branches of the U.S. military. The military calls the gun the M17, as well as the M18, a compact version of the pistol.
A year after the Army announced its contract with Sig Sauer, a Department of Defense report was released showing that during testing, the military found the P320 could go off without a trigger pull if dropped at certain angles. Sig Sauer modified the gun’s trigger mechanism.
The company then also redesigned the civilian version of the P320, and offered owners of older models the chance to voluntarily return their guns for swapped out components. Sig Sauer maintains that the P320 is safe for use, even with the older trigger system.
But dozens of lawsuits have been filed by individual gun owners and members of law enforcement against Sig Sauer over alleged unintentional shootings involving both the modified and original versions of the P320. That includes an ongoing claim in the federal court in New Hampshire in which 20 victims allege their P320 unintentionally discharged without a trigger pull under a variety of circumstances.
“We're seeing people who are in law enforcement or private citizens, who are responsible gun owners, who ultimately are experiencing life changing injuries when their guns are firing without their intent,” said Bob Zimmerman, an attorney involved in dozens of lawsuits involving Sig Sauer.
After initially settling two cases out of court, Sig Sauer has strenuously defended itself in other legal proceedings. In a statement to NHPR, a Sig Sauer spokesperson listed 13 court cases that were dismissed or where a jury sided with the company.
That string of victories ended last month, however, when a jury awarded $2.3 million in damages to a Georgia man who claimed he was injured by a P320.
Zimmerman said he expects more injuries among civilians and police officers who carry the P320.
“This isn't an instance where it's happened once or twice,” he said. “It is happening time and time again.”
‘Performed as designed’
According to the newly released military documents, soldiers at bases in Missouri, Virginia, Louisiana and Amman, Jordan were seriously injured when their Sig Sauer gun unintentionally discharged. Though the documents are heavily redacted, in at least two of the six shootings, witnesses stated that the soldier did not have their hand on or near the trigger when the gun discharged.
In response to questions from NHPR, the Army said it found “no reason to suspect the weapon was the root cause” of the unintentional discharges.
“The Army has full confidence in the quality, performance and safety of the more than 244,000 M17 and M18 pistols issued to our servicemen and women,” according to an Army spokesperson. They added that the Sig Sauer pistol is “designed, built, and tested to military standards to endure the rigors of combat.”
Greg Rinckey, a former intelligence officer and Army JAG now in private practice, said that when a gun discharges, it can be difficult to determine if the soldier was negligent in their handling of the weapon, or if there was another factor involved.
“Obviously, there are two sides to every story,” he said. According to Rinckey, most soldiers facing discipline for an unintentional discharge are going to say “my finger wasn't on the trigger.”
Still, he noted that increased attention on the safety record of the newly adopted Sig Sauer weapon is warranted.
“Whenever the military switches to a different firearm, whether it be a pistol or a new AR, there is always going to be heightened scrutiny of that weapon,” said Rinckey.
An incident report released by the Marine Corps details an unintentional shooting inside a guard booth in Okinawa, Japan in 2023. Investigators reviewed surveillance footage and determined that the security guard did not mishandle the weapon, and that it fired despite the gun’s safety being in place.
The Marine Corps said in a statement that professional armorers and engineers inspected the weapon involved in that incident, and found it was “complete, functional, included all safety equipment, and was operating properly.”
A spokesperson added that “the weapon performed as designed, and the conclusion reached was the weapon will not fire unless the safety is off, and the trigger is pulled.”
In marketing materials, Sig Sauer describes the P320 pistol as “the chosen one.” It supplies the gun to armed forces in Canada, Australia and “many other military units around the world.” The company’s deal with the U.S. military for the pistol is slated to run through at least 2027.
Copyright 2024 New Hampshire Public Radio
