ORLANDO, Fla. — Gun manufacturer SIG Sauer is pushing Florida lawmakers to support a new bill that would shield gun manufacturers from being sued just because they chose not to include certain safety or design features that federal law doesn’t require, including external manual safety.
9 Investigates has reported since November that SIG Sauer is facing scrutiny over safety concerns of their P320. Several local law enforcement agencies have dropped the weapon because of those concerns.
“If your sole argument is it didn’t have a safety, that’s a defect, you should lose on direct verdict,” said Florida Rep. Wyman Duggan, who introduced the bill.
The purchaser elected to purchase it with all of its inherent design
This is as SIG Sauer has faced more than 100 lawsuits filed in 22 states including Florida, relating to P320s firing unintentionally.SIG Sauer’s Senior VP spoke in front of a Florida subcommittee Tuesday.
“Every court case involving an out-of-state planet here in Florida, gun companies like us and others, takes away resources that could be flowed into R&D efforts to make our military and law enforcement equipment better,” said Bobby Cox, a senior vice president with Sig Sauer.
The gun manufacturer consistently has defended the gun, saying it works as intended.Sig Sauer cites user error or holster issues. The company denies any design flaws or defects with the gun.
But dozens of law enforcement officers say otherwise.
We spoke to Marcie Vadnais in November. She says when her agency issued gun fired, neither her hand nor any object was near the trigger at all. She says she spent close to a month in the hospital after shattering her femur. Sig Sauer settled with her outside of court.
Indian River County Sheriff Eric Flowers ordered his agency to stop carrying the P320 after he says a deputy was shot in the leg without pulling the trigger.“The gun went off. I can’t explain it. I don’t know why it went off,” Flowers said.
He spoke of other incidents just like this across the country caught on camera.
“As a law enforcement leader, that scares the hell out of me,” Flowers said.
The bill’s sponsor says if passed, this law would not affect ongoing litigation, only future litigation.
Despite this, lawmakers voted to move the bill forward. It passed 13-4.
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