A Philadelphia jury on Wednesday awarded $11 million to a man whose holstered Sig Sauer pistol spontaneously went off as he walked down the stairs, causing a serious leg injury; This is the second major ruling this year against the embattled arms manufacturer over the P320 model.

After a three-week trial, the jury concluded that New Hampshire-based Sig Sauer was negligent in selling a defective gun and holster. Plaintiff’s lawyers say P320 gun tend to go A flaw in the trigger pull that led to numerous injuries across the US

More than 100 people have come forward to make similar claims about the P320. Sig Sauer insists the gun is safe.

“For over three years we have been asking Sig to recall this gun, repair it, and frankly use the types of safety that other manufacturers use but Sig Sauer does not,” said plaintiff attorney Robert W. Zimmerman. , said the following after the decision.

He added that the decision “sends a strong message to Sig Sauer that they need to do something about this weapon.”

Zimmerman represented U.S. Army veteran and Philadelphia painting contractor George Abrahams; He said he holstered his P320, put it in the pocket of his athletic pants, and zipped it up before going downstairs. The gun went off and the bullet penetrated his right thigh and exited above his knee, causing permanent injuries, according to court documents.

At trial, Sig Sauer tried to pin the blame on Abrahams. The company said in a statement: expression The website stated that jurors “agreed that the plaintiff’s own negligence contributed to the accident” and argued that the P320 was “one of the most tested, proven and successful handguns in recent history.”

“We strongly disagree with the decision in this unintentional dismissal case… and will appeal the decision on a number of grounds,” the company said.

Earlier this year, a federal jury awarded $2.35 million in damages to a Georgia man injured when a P320 exploded in his holster. Zimmerman’s law firm, Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky, also represented the plaintiff and has a number of other claims against Sig Sauer pending. The company said it plans to appeal the Georgia decision.

“We’ve said it before, juries are now making their decisions loud and clear; Zimmerman’s attorney, Ryan Hurd, said Wednesday that this gun poses a danger to gun owners and anyone near it.

Abrahams’ lawsuit, filed in 2022, describes dozens of inadvertent releases involving P320, of which attorneys estimate there are nearly half a million units in circulation in the United States. Users sold in the United States market.

The military version of the gun comes with an external safety to prevent accidental discharge, according to plaintiffs’ attorneys, but the model sold to law enforcement agencies and civilians does not.

In 2019, the unintentional dismissal of a P320 holstered by a Philadelphia transit attendant led the city’s transit agency, SEPTA, to remove all P320 pistols from service and replace them with Glocks.

Sig Sauer has settled at least one federal class action lawsuit involving the P320, pistols made before 2017, and has offered refunds or replacement guns to buyers.

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