Sig Sauer must face lawsuit from NY detective over accidental P320 discharge, appeals court rules
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, May 28 (Reuters) — A divided federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that firearms manufacturer Sig Sauer must face a product liability lawsuit filed by an upstate New York police detective who was injured when his department-issued semi-automatic pistol discharged inadvertently during a training exercise.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan revived claims from Michael Colwell, a detective with the Troy Police Department. Colwell said he suffered a leg injury in June 2021 when his Sig Sauer P320 fired while still holstered, despite his never touching the trigger. The ruling marks the latest legal challenge for the Newington, New Hampshire-based company over the widely used P320 model.
Writing for the 2-1 majority, Circuit Judge Gerard Lynch said a reasonable jury could conclude that the accident would not have occurred had the pistol been equipped with an external safety device, specifically a tabbed trigger. Lynch added that jurors could rely on common sense to determine whether a “foreign object” likely caused the discharge, and whether such a discharge would have been prevented by a tabbed trigger mechanism.
Sig Sauer and its legal team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The P320 is used by numerous law enforcement agencies across the United States, as well as by the U.S. military, and is also sold in a civilian version. The company has long defended the pistol’s safety, stating on its website that the weapon “cannot under any circumstance discharge without a trigger pull.”
Despite those assurances, Sig Sauer has faced dozens of lawsuits alleging that the P320’s design is defective, making it prone to unintentional firing. Robert Zimmerman, attorney for Colwell and his wife, said they look forward to a jury trial. “We’re aware of over 500 unintended discharges of this product, which is a staggering and unacceptable number,” Zimmerman added.
DISSENTING JUDGE WARNS OF JUROR GUESSWORK
The appeals court revived Colwell’s case even though it agreed with the trial judge’s decision to exclude expert testimony about the P320’s alleged design flaws, on the grounds that the experts failed to explain how the lack of an external safety specifically caused Colwell’s injury.
Circuit Judge Richard Sullivan dissented, arguing there was no evidence to establish what caused Colwell’s gun to fire. He said the question involved complex issues of physics, engineering and ergonomics that ordinary jurors would not understand. “The jury could do little more than guess,” Sullivan wrote.
Lynch, however, noted that a federal appeals court in Denver ruled in Sig Sauer’s favor last June in a similar case lacking causation testimony. He distinguished that case from Colwell’s because the plaintiff there did not identify which parts of his body or holster made contact — or failed to make contact — with the trigger.
The majority in Thursday’s decision included Lynch and Circuit Judge Pierre Leval, both appointed to the 2nd Circuit by Democratic presidents (Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, respectively). Sullivan was appointed by Republican President Donald Trump.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)