A Washington gun owner has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that Sig Sauer sold its popular P320 handgun with a safety defect that can cause the pistol to fire without anyone pulling the trigger, according to a complaint filed Monday in federal court.
The lawsuit, Patrick Schreiber of Bothell, claims the firearm is “defectively designed” because it becomes fully energized the moment a round is chambered, has an unusually light and short trigger pull, and lacks any external safety — a combination the complaint describes as dangerous for everyday use.
Schreiber, who purchased his P320 in 2021, says Sig Sauer never disclosed any safety concerns.
The filing outlines years of reported unintended firings connected to the P320 nationwide, including incidents involving police departments, federal agencies, and private gun owners.
In one instance, CBS Austin reported in 2024, two police officers were shot by their own holstered handguns.
According to the complaint, Sig Sauer documented more than 200 accidental discharges, and several law enforcement agencies — including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Chicago Police Department, and departments in Connecticut and Texas — have replaced or banned the firearm due to safety issues.
Schreiber’s lawsuit argues that every P320 sold in Washington shares the same internal fire-control design, and that consumers paid full price for a product that did not meet basic expectations for safety.
Attorneys claim the alleged defect exists across all P320 models and variants because they use the same internal mechanism.
Court documents cite Sig Sauer’s own 2017 internal analysis for the U.S. Army, which rated unintentional discharges as a “high” risk capable of causing catastrophic injury.
Despite that assessment, the complaint states, Sig Sauer did not add external safety features or warn customers.
Instead, the suit says the company continued to promote the P320 as having “safety without compromise” while publicly dismissing reports of accidental firings.
The lawsuit also highlights dozens of personal-injury cases filed in recent years — many involving officers who said their holstered weapons fired unexpectedly — and includes examples of agencies pulling the gun from service following training-range incidents and documented injuries.
Schreiber seeks to represent all Washington residents who bought a P320 without a manual safety after November 2021.
The case argues Sig Sauer violated the state Consumer Protection Act by failing to disclose known risks and by marketing the pistol using imagery and references to the military versions of the firearm, which do include manual safeties not present on the civilian P320.
The suit asks the court to order Sig Sauer to repair or disclose the alleged defect, compensate consumers for overpayment, and halt what the complaint describes as unfair and deceptive practices.
No hearing date has been set.
KIRO 7 News has reached out to Sig Sauer for comment on the lawsuit.
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