ORLANDO, Fla — It’s a gun often carried by law enforcement that some say can fire without pulling the trigger.
Several police agencies across the country have stopped carrying the SIG Sauer P320 because of safety concerns.
But Investigative Reporter Ashlyn Webb has learned some officers right here in Central Florida still carry it despite all the questions and the controversy.
We spoke with the gun manufacturer, SIG Sauer, who consistently denied the gun is defective, blaming the dozens of reported incidents on user error or lack of understanding of the gun’s vulnerabilities. Yet, the company has settled lawsuits with officers for millions of dollars. One former deputy told us this gun changed her life forever.
“Mind blowing, like never in a million years, would I think that’s something that’s possible until that moment,” said Marcie Vadnais.
Vadnais says the career she loved abruptly ended in 2018. She was sitting in her patrol car removing her holstered gun from her belt.
“As I rotated it, it fired straight into my femur,” Vadnais said.
Marcie says she never touched the trigger.
“Where I was holding it was down where the muzzle would be in the holster,” Vadnais said.
She spent close to a month in the hospital and even after four surgeries, says her strength will never be the same.
On hot days, she’s reminded that bullet fragments remain lodged in her leg.
“It’ll look like cigarette burns on my leg as the shrapnel heats up,” Vadnais said.
9 Investigates found more than 100 lawsuits filed in 22 states relating to SIG Sauer P320s firing unintentionally.
Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission permanently banned use of the P320 during training “out of an abundance of caution” after a gun fired without a trigger pull during training last year.
Last month, New Jersey’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit, seeking a recall of all P320s in the state and a permanent ban on their sale.
“It makes zero sense to me why you would not just halt production, let’s do a deep dive into this and see what is going on-- and why this is happening with this particular gun only,” Vadnais said.
9 Investigates contacted more than forty law enforcement agencies across Central Florida. Five agencies confirmed their officers still carry the SIG Sauer P320s.
The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and Sanford Police told us they’re phasing out the weapon.
Orlando Police Department and Saint Cloud Police Department wouldn’t say if they’re considering replacing the gun, but said they’ve had no problems with it.
Leesburg Police said officers will continue to carry the gun, saying there’s not enough evidence of a defect.
None of the agencies would talk on camera.
“You’re going to tell me that men and women who live and die by the gun are shooting themselves all over the United States by accident, but only with the SIG P320,” said state Representative Danny Alvarez. He wants all Florida law enforcement agencies to stop carrying the gun.
He cites this 2024 report from the FBI’s Ballistic Research Facility, which tested the military version of the P320. Out of 50 tests under mechanical stress the holstered gun fired nine times without the trigger being pulled.
“The answer is we don’t know why it’s going on,” Alvarez said. “But until we get there, I’m not willing to risk any cop’s life,” Alvarez said.
Phil Strader is SIG Sauer’s Vice President of Consumer Affairs.
“Everyone says their finger was not on the trigger, and it’s just not from a P320 standpoint. It’s not possible,” said Phil Strader, SIG Sauer’s Vice President of Consumer Affairs.
Strader says in the FBI’s study, the agency cut away part of the gun’s slide to show the gun’s inner workings which took away from the integrity of the tests. He says the FBI’s test technique, depending on the stress placed on the gun, pulled the trigger to the rear and disengaged all of its normal safeties.
“They were forcing that seer down, and suscepting it to an amount of G-forces that aren’t physically possible, in a realistic situation,” Strader said.
“The FBI was pushing the gun to its limits in order to try to get it to discharge,” said Donald Mihalek, who was a United States Secret Service firearm instructor for more than 15 years.
Mihalek says officers need more training, especially with this particular gun.
“The trigger is a lighter trigger than some people are accustomed to, especially if you’re coming from another pistol,” Mihalek said.
Strader believes majority of these unintentional discharges cases are user error lack of training or lack of understanding of the gun’s vulnerabilities.
“A shorter, better trigger will initially result in better accuracy for police officers. They can shoot more accurately; they can be more effective if they have to use their firearms. But the trade-off is, is they open themselves up to system vulnerabilities, and that is a light-bearing gun and a light bearing holster can offer the opportunity for things to get into the holsters,” Strader said.
Strader says objects can get into the holster like a flashlight.
He highlights the agency that asked for the FBI to test the SIG Sauer P320 reissued the gun after the study. He says they also ordered
Strader says each time there’s a claim of an unintended discharge, SIG Sauer investigates and always asking the user if they can test the gun.
“We check all that to make sure it’s all within specification. And shockingly, it always is, and the gun will always only fire when the trigger is pulled, no matter what we do,” Strader said, claiming the company has never been able to reproduce an unintended discharge on the SIG Sauer P320.
Mihalek also highlighted that several government agencies have tested the gun. He said, “despite all the testing, if there is an engineering issue with the 320 that SIG isn’t disclosing, it’s a significant reputational risk to SIG’s future in the firearms market.”
Marcie says when her gun fired, she hadn’t touched the trigger at all. She’s not allowed to say how much SIG Sauer paid her to settle her lawsuit.
But she hopes chiefs across the country learn from her story.
“You’ve got all your officers, their wives, their husbands, all their kids that are depending on you to keep them safe while they’re protecting citizens, and it’s not worth it having a gun that’s a ‘what if,’” Vadnais said.
SIG Sauer claims many of these accusations are from anti-gun groups, claiming many lawyers who are representing officers are up for the money grab.
Marcie wanted to make clear she isn’t anti-gun. In fact, she carries one all the time.
SIG Sauer has offered to modify older P320’s for free, but some lawsuits allege the same thing happened with the newer version.
SIG Sauer P320s are available to the public, but several local gun stores told 9 Investigates they’ve stopped selling them. Gun ranges have stopped allowing their P320 in their range because of the safety concerns. The gun maker claims these decisions by businesses were made in a “knee-jerk” reaction to false claims circulating.
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