A man whose Sig Sauer holster went off while he was walking down stairs, causing serious leg injuries, was awarded $11 million by a jury in Philadelphia on Wednesday. The decision was the second major judgment in 2024 against the controversial arms manufacturer for its P320 model.
After a three-week trial, the jury concluded that New Hampshire-based Sig Sauer was negligent in selling a defective pistol and holster. The plaintiff’s attorneys said the P320 pistol has a tendency to discharge unintentionally, a defect that has led to dozens of injuries in the US.
More than 100 people have made similar accusations about the P320. Sig Sauer insists the gun is safe.
“We have been asking Sig for over three years now to recall this gun, fix it and, quite frankly, use the same type of security as other manufacturers that Sig Sauer doesn’t use,” said Robert W. Zimmerman, the plaintiff’s attorney. , said after the verdict.
He added that the verdict “sends a strong message to Sig Sauer that they need to do something with this weapon.”
Zimmerman represented George Abrahams, a U.S. Army veteran and painting contractor in Philadelphia, who said he holstered his P320, put it in the pocket of his jockstraps and zipped it up before heading downstairs. The gun went off and the bullet tore through his right thigh, exiting above the knee and causing permanent injury, court documents said.
During the trial, Sig Sauer tried to shift the blame to Abrahams. The company said in a statement on its website that jurors “agreed that the plaintiff’s negligence contributed to his accident,” and defended the P320 as “one of the most tested, proven and successful handguns in recent history.” ” Plaintiff has not denied that the gun was fired because the trigger moved.
“We strongly disagree with the ruling in this unintentional dismissal case… and will appeal the decision on multiple grounds,” the company said.
Earlier this year, a federal jury awarded $2.35 million to a Georgia man who was injured when his holstered P320 went off. Zimmerman’s law firm, Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, also represented the plaintiff and has other pending claims against Sig Sauer. The company has indicated that it plans to appeal the judgment in Georgia.
“We’ve said it before, and juries are now speaking loud and clear with their verdicts; this weapon is a danger to gun owners and anyone around this weapon,” Zimmerman co-counsel Ryan Hurd said in a statement Wednesday. .
Abrahams’ lawsuit, filed in 2022, recounted dozens of accidental discharge incidents involving the P320, of which attorneys estimate there are about half a million in circulation in the U.S. users sold in the US market.”
The military version of the gun comes with an external safety to prevent accidental discharges, plaintiffs’ attorneys said, but the model sold to law enforcement and civilians does not.
In 2019, the accidental discharge of the P320 in a Philadelphia transformer holster prompted SEPTA, the city’s transportation agency, to retire all of its P320 pistols and replace them with Glocks.
Sig Sauer has settled at least one federal class action lawsuit involving the P320, involving pistols made before 2017, with buyers receiving refunds or replacement weapons.
