Judge orders Chicago police to cease using Sig Sauer P320 pistols

SEATTLE — A federal judge has ordered officers in one of the Nation’s largest police departments to stop carrying a controversial handgun.

The Chicago Police Department began phasing out the Sig Sauer P320 pistol earlier this year, but US District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said the department did “not fully answer” questions about the continued use of the gun by some officers.  She ruled that Chicago officers should stop carrying the P320 “immediately.” The order was requested by the union representing officers.

It’s the latest setback for the P320, which is widely used by police officers and he military. Earlier this year, the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (WSCJTC), which trains all police officers in the state, banned the handgun amid concerns that it can fire without anyone pulling the trigger. 

As the KING 5 Investigators reported, a police recruit’s gun reportedly fired on its own during a live fire training exercise last October. There were no injuries, but reports of mishaps nationwide have been growing and some of them involved police officers who have been seriously injured.

RELATED: Popular police gun permanently banned at Washington training academy

According to court records in the Chicago case, “approximately 1,540 officers” carried the P320 as their duty weapon until the department started transitioning to an alternative Sig Sauer model in April.  Seven hundred eighty officers are still in the process of transitioning. There are nearly 12,000 sworn officers in the city’s police force.

“I’m very pleased,” attorney Jeff Bagnell said of Judge Pallmeyer’s ruling. 

Bagnell has filed several lawsuits against New Hampshire-based Sig Sauer on behalf of clients who say they were injured when the handgun fired, sometimes in the holster. 

“This is the second time a federal judge has said this gun presents a danger to law enforcement and others,” Bagnell said.

Sig Sauer said the P320 is manufactured so that it cannot fire without a trigger pull. The gun maker blames operator error for the misfires and sometimes argues that handcuffs or other objects slip into the holster trigger well and cause the gun to fire.

Sig Sauer has sued the WSCJTC and Executive Director Monica Alexander in Thurston County Superior Court. Its suit said the training academy’s ban has hurt its reputation and forced Washington police departments to transition to alternative weapons so their recruits can train at the academy.

Indeed, not all reports of unintended discharges are accurate. The U.S. Global Strike Command barred personnel from carrying the M18 handgun, the weapon’s military version, after 21-year-old airman Brayden Loven died while on-duty at FE Warren Air Force Base near Cheyenne, Wyoming. The Air Force said the temporary ban was for “safety concerns.” But on Aug. 12, the Air Force announced it arrested another airman on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter and making a false statement in relation to Lovan’s death.  The temporary pause on the M18 has been lifted and the Air Force said its inspection of 7,970 pistols determined the weapons “are in proper working order.”