The Wyoming Highway Patrol about two years ago quit issuing its troopers Sig Sauer P320 pistols after one of the weapons accidentally discharged, an agency spokesman said.
Troopers “lost trust” in the Sig Sauers after a trooper’s weapon unintentionally fired, though nobody was injured in the incident, WHP Sgt. Jeremy Beck told Cowboy State Daily early Wednesday.
“The agency moved to a different platform” for duty weapons after the incident, Beck said, without going into further detail about the accidental discharge.
It wasn’t ever established whether the accidental firing was related to a flaw in the pistol’s design, Beck said. But nonetheless, troopers no longer felt safe carrying P320s after that.
Beck said WHP hasn’t been involved in any litigation against Sig Sauer, including a pending lawsuit claiming that P320 pistols are prone to accidental firings, allegedly sometimes even while still holstered.
Current And Previous Lawsuits
That lawsuit was filed Nov. 30 in New Hampshire. The 20 plaintiffs, some of them law enforcement officers, claim to have suffered injuries as a result of their P320 pistols unintentionally firing.
When first released in 2014, the P320 gained a reputation for firing accidently when dropped or bumped hard. That resulted in a lawsuit being filed in 2018, which ended in a class-action settlement in early 2020.
Sig Sauer claimed to have corrected those early-model design flaws, which apparently aren’t connected to the current lawsuit.
Wyoming Gun Dealers Not Worried
Despite the lawsuit alleging the weapons have caused unintended injuries, a pair of Wyoming gun shop owners say they haven’t noticed a problem with the P320 pistols.
“I’ve never had any problem with Sig, and they do have a good reputation,” gunsmith Brian Dimoff, who owns Gold Spur Outfitters LLC in Laramie, told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
Leo Perez, manager of Dave’s Guns in Laramie, also said that he hasn’t had any customer complaints about Sig pistols or heard any concerns over the lawsuit.
