Sig Sauer P320 What Would You DO?
By Gregory Kielma
SIG Sues Washington Police Academy For Banning Training With Its P320 Pistol
SIG Sues Washington Police Academy For Banning Training With Its P320 Pistol
Mark Chesnut
We reported recently how Sig Sauer’s popular P320 pistol has come under fire by some law enforcement agencies, military branches and even Gunsite Academy because of alleged safety problems. One such law enforcement group, the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (WSCJTC), which operates Washington’s police training academy, banned the P320 for trainee use.
“My position has to be safety because we know so much now that if I make a different decision, I don’t feel like I’m being responsible,” Monica Alexander, WSCJTC executive director, said upon announcing the ban.
Now, SIG has filed a lawsuit, Sig Sauer Inc. v. WSCJTC, seeking to have the ban reversed and claiming that the ban is unnecessary and not well grounded in fact or law.
“Law enforcement departments throughout Washington State trust, rely on, and prefer the P320 as their service pistol of choice,” the lawsuit states. “By banning the P320 for new law enforcement recruits, the WSCJTC is putting these men and women at a disadvantage when they enter the field and will be assigned the P320. The action also imposes negative financial impacts on all those law enforcement agencies that utilize the P320 and Sig Sauer. It further inappropriately and unjustifiably inflicts reputational and economic harms on Sig Sauer.”
The plaintiff further argues the lawsuit that the organization’s P320 ban runs afoul of state law and the state’s statute outlining the right to keep and bear arms.