New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin announced Thursday that the state has filed a lawsuit against firearms manufacturer Sig Sauer, Inc., alleging that its P320 handgun has a dangerous defect that causes it to fire unintentionally—killing and injuring law enforcement officers and civilians across the state.
The lawsuit, filed by the Statewide Affirmative Firearms Enforcement Office (SAFE) and the Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA), accuses Sig Sauer of violating both the Firearms Industry Public Safety Law and the Consumer Fraud Act. It seeks to force a statewide recall of the P320 and to halt what the state calls false and deceptive marketing.
According to the complaint, Sig Sauer has long advertised that the P320 “won’t fire unless you want it to.” But New Jersey officials say that is false — and that the weapon can discharge without anyone pulling the trigger. “We ask law enforcement officers to put their lives on the line every day to protect the public,” Platkin said. “Gun manufacturers have a moral duty to ensure those officers are not put in harm’s way because of defective weapons.”
The P320, introduced in 2014, was marketed as a high-performance handgun that didn’t need an external safety. Yet the state’s complaint describes the weapon as “unusual in its propensity to discharge unintentionally,” noting that its internal safety mechanism can disengage during routine movements or vibrations.
The issue was flagged as early as 2016, when the U.S. Army rejected the commercial P320 model as unsafe without an external safety. Sig Sauer later added a manual thumb safety for military versions — the M17 and M18 — but continued to sell the civilian and law enforcement versions without that modification, while still advertising them as the “official sidearm of the U.S. military.”
Despite public criticism and numerous reports of unintended discharges — including incidents captured on body camera and security footage — Sig Sauer has maintained that the P320 is safe and has blamed victims for mishandling their weapons. In 2017, the company introduced a “voluntary upgrade” aimed at addressing drop-related misfires but did not acknowledge the broader defect.
The lawsuit cites multiple incidents in New Jersey in which P320 handguns discharged unintentionally, injuring officers and civilians in West Orange, Montville, Phillipsburg, Howell, and other communities. One of the most serious cases occurred in April 2023, when Detective Lieutenant Walter Imbert of the Orange Police Department was killed while cleaning his P320 service weapon. Evidence indicated his finger was not on the trigger when the gun discharged.
Dozens of police departments nationwide — including those in Denver, Houston, Chicago, San Antonio, and San Francisco — have since replaced the P320 with other firearms.
The suit is the latest action by Platkin’s SAFE Office, established in 2022 to hold the gun industry accountable for public safety violations. The office has previously sued Glock over design flaws that allow illegal automatic conversions and secured settlements against several gun retailers for selling ammunition without proper ID checks.
Filed in New Jersey Superior Court, the complaint demands a mandatory recall of P320 handguns in the state, an end to Sig Sauer’s allegedly deceptive marketing, and financial restitution.
“Officers and civilians in New Jersey and across the country have suffered immense harm as a result of Sig Sauer’s actions and brazen deceptions,” Platkin said. “No one is above the law — and if you break our laws, we will hold you accountable.”
