Popular firearm banned by WA police training commission after reports of untriggered firings
Mar 25, 2025, 8:06 AM | Updated: 9:18 am
A Sig Sauer P320 handgun is held at a gun store. (Photo: Joe Raedle, Getty Images)
(Photo: Joe Raedle, Getty Images)
Washington’s Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) banned a firearm popular among both law enforcement and the U.S. military, causing multiple police departments to protest the decision.
The CJTC is an academy for career development training within law enforcement that trains and certifies all Washington police officers. With the commission making the decision to ban all Sig Sauer P320 handguns from its facilities, all new recruits and trainees will have to train on a different model of firearm than the one they will use on the job.
“I would ask the commission to consider placing a temporary pause on this directive to allow for more thorough discussion about the budget and the impact,” Bellevue Police Chief Wendell Shirley said at a March 12 meeting via KING 5.
The CJTC investigated the Sig Sauer P320 handgun after multiple reports came through that the firearm was firing on its own. Multiple law enforcement agencies reported that the Sig Sauer P320 fired a shot without anyone pulling the trigger. No injuries have been reported from this issue in Washington among law enforcement, but several officers nationwide have been injured due to faulty firings from the Sig Sauer P320.
The specific incident that spurred CJTC to ban the firearm happened at the agency’s training center in Spokane. A recruit from Yakima’s P320 fired on the gun range without him pulling the trigger, narrowly missing another recruit and an instructor standing next to him.
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Sig Sauer’s stance on its gun’s alleged mishaps
Despite the reports, Sig Sauer has stood firm that the P320 can fire on its own.
“It cannot happen,” Louis Graziano, a Sig Sauer rep and former New York City police officer, told KING 5. “That sequence of components in there and the way that they are engineered does not allow this gun to just fire on its own.”
The Sig Sauer P320 is one of the most common handguns in the U.S. military and police departments nationwide. Additionally, tens of thousands of civilians own that specific firearm. The CJTC can only ban the P320 from its own facilities.
Additionally, any recall by Sig Sauer would be voluntary due to federal laws shielding gun manufacturers from mandatory recalls.
As of this reporting, the Vancouver Police Department, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department have previously barred the firearm due to the fear of unintended discharges, according to The Seattle Times.
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