The SIG Sauer P320 just took another hit, this time from the instructors trusted to keep America’s law enforcement officers safe and proficient with their firearms.
The National Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Association (NLEFIA) announced today that, effective immediately, all variants of the P320, including its military-issued M17 and M18 models, are banned from use in all NLEFIA training courses. The reason: persistent and unresolved safety concerns, particularly unintentional discharges while holstered.
“This policy has been implemented in response to significant safety concerns, including multiple reported incidents of unintentional discharges involving holstered P320 pistols,” the organization wrote in a July 28 email to all members.
It is important to note that the NLEFIA is not a fringe alarmist group; it is a professional organization dedicated to supporting firearms instructors in law enforcement agencies across the country. Their members are the subject matter experts who shape firearms training policy, safety standards, and tactical curriculum in police departments nationwide. When they ban a weapon system from their courses, it sends a clear signal: something is seriously wrong.
A Troubled History
The P320 has been plagued by controversy since its adoption. While selected by the U.S. military in 2017 to replace the Beretta M9, it quickly drew criticism. Lawsuits began to emerge from both civilian users and law enforcement officers alleging that the P320 could fire without the trigger being pulled. This defect is often described as an “uncommanded discharge.”
Incidents have reportedly occurred while the pistol was holstered, while being adjusted on a duty belt, or during other routine movements. Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Dallas Police Department and the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, have pulled the pistol from service in recent years.
In July 2025, one of the most serious rebukes came from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The agency issued a formal memo directing its personnel to immediately stop carrying the P320, citing safety concerns. ICE ordered a full transition to Glock pistols within ten days. Such a rapid transition is highly unusual for a federal agency, where weapon transitions typically unfold over months or even years.
Military Fallout
The U.S. military remains the largest institutional user of the P320 platform. Since 2017, the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and Space Force have fielded over 500,000 M17 and M18 pistols under the Modular Handgun System (MHS) program.
But reports of injuries and fatalities tied to these weapons have raised concerns inside the ranks as well. In 2021, a soldier at Fort Riley was wounded when his holstered M17 discharged during routine movement. In July 2025, an Airman at F.E. Warren Air Force Base was killed in a confirmed M18 discharge. That incident prompted Air Force Global Strike Command to immediately suspend all use of the M18 across its units and begin a full inspection of armory-issued pistols.
Despite these events, the Pentagon has issued no public statement, no interim safety guidance, and no indication of a broader review.
Corporate Denial
What makes the NLEFIA decision stand out is not just the ban itself, but what it signals: a breakdown in trust. And much of that erosion points back to SIG Sauer.
The company has repeatedly denied that the P320 design is at fault. In response to lawsuits and press inquiries, SIG has maintained that its pistols are safe when used as intended, attributing incidents to user error, improper handling, or third-party modifications. In court filings, it has argued that the weapon will not fire unless the trigger is pulled. Yet dozens of lawsuits, internal agency reports, and now a nationwide training ban suggest otherwise.
The issue isn’t just the discharges. It’s the company’s refusal to acknowledge the pattern, to engage transparently with critics, or to offer meaningful design revisions. Law enforcement agencies and military units rely on manufacturers not just for performance, but for accountability. The longer SIG insists there’s nothing to fix, the more it risks losing the confidence of its core user base. And that risk is no longer confined to the P320.
A Crisis of Confidence
The P320 is quickly losing the confidence of the very professionals expected to carry and train with it. What began as scattered lawsuits and isolated complaints has now escalated into national training bans, federal agency withdrawals, and deadly incidents inside military ranks.
More troubling for SIG Sauer is that this erosion of trust appears to be spreading beyond the P320. The company currently holds major government contracts to field the Army’s Next Generation Squad Weapon (M7) and light machine gun (M250), intended to replace the M4 and M249 in close combat units. If SIG’s approach to accountability remains unchanged, the concerns raised by law enforcement and training communities may follow the brand into those future programs as well.
The real question now isn’t about the P320. It’s about whether SIG Sauer can be trusted as it refuses to address a growing loss of confidence in its firearms.