By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
Attorneys for Sig Sauer will appeal the verdict in a lawsuit which awarded a Georgia man $2.3 million in a product liability case in which it was argued that the Sig P320 semi-auto pistol was defectively designed, resulting in a discharge that resulted in bullet wound to his thigh.
Robert Lang contended the pistol had a design flaw allowing it to unintentionally discharge without the trigger being depressed, according to NHPR.org.
In his original 16-page complaint, filed in Fulton County, Georgia court, Lang contended that Sig Sauer knew of problems with the P320 pistol, yet left tens of thousands of them in circulation without notifying the owners of the problems. In his lawsuit, Lang asserted that Sig Sauer failed to use “due care in designing and manufacturing” the P320 to prevent “un-commanded discharges” and by omitting a mechanical disconnect switch to prevent such discharges. He said the company also failed to issue a recall on the P320 pistols already in circulation.
In its statement, Sig Sauer asserts Lang “initially admitted to the police that he accidentally discharged his gun while pulling it out of the holster, then later changed his story, stating that the firearm discharged without a trigger pull. However, the Plaintiff’s story notably changed again, after hiring trial experts who agreed that the SIG SAUER P320 could not discharge without the trigger being pulled.”
According to the New Hampshire Union Leader, there are other legal actions pending over the same pistol. The newspaper reported another lawsuit involving 20 plaintiffs “including federal agents, police and civilians,” who were allegedly injured when their guns discharged.
But in the Lang case, Sig Sauer is sticking by its guns, literally and figuratively. In the company statement following the verdict, the company said it “does not believe that Plaintiff has met his burden to prove the P320 model pistol was designed defectively or negligently as claimed.”
“There are no facts on the record to support that Mr. Lang’s discharge claim was the result of anything other than his own negligent handling causing him to pull the trigger on the P320 pistol,” Sig Sauer said.
