Williamsburg police may replace handguns

WILLIAMSBURG — The Williamsburg Police Department may replace the sidearms its officers carry due to a concern about accidental discharge.

Williamsburg Police Chief Jason Mochal told the Williamsburg City Council a few weeks ago that the Sig Sauer P320 has caused concern nationally because of alleged accidental discharge.

This month, Mochal reiterated his concerns.

According to a study, during normal usage the torque on the firearm is enough to accidentally discharge the Sig Sauer P320, said Mochal. He’s looking at buying Glocks, model 47, to replace the Sigs, he said.

The cost will be about $6,000 to $7,000, Mochal said, and he thinks he has that much money in his equipment budget. Former Police Chief Justin Parsons had set aside money for vests, Mochal said, but not all of the vests needed replaced, so Mochal could use that money for Glocks.

Mochal contacted a couple of distributors in Iowa about buying the new weapons. A third distributor deals only in Glocks and wouldn’t take the Sigs in trade, Mochal said.

Sig says there’s nothing wrong with the gun, said Mochal, but it has been making payouts. Mochal wants to replace his officers’ weapons sooner rather than later, he said. He was waiting for the results of FBI tests.

TWZ (The War Zone) reported this month that Sig has refuted the results of the FBI’s initial evaluation, which it says the bureau was subsequently unable to reproduce using a mutually agreed-upon testing protocol.

In August 2024, the Michigan State Police requested that the FBI’s Ballistic Research Facility evaluate a commercially-sourced version of the M18 pistol that had been involved in an apparent “uncommanded discharge,” TWZ said.

The BRF conducted a technical evaluation and produced a report, dated Aug. 30, 2024. Testing indicated that with movements representing those common to a law enforcement officer it is possible to render the Striker Safety Lock inoperable and ineffective at preventing the striker from impacting a chambered round if complete sear engagement is lost, the BRF said.

The Striker Safety Lock, by design, is the last safety in line to prevent an unintended discharge as it is in place to protect against a secondary sear notch override, said BRF.

Examination of the subject weapon did not independently provide evidence of an uncommanded discharge, said BRF, but it does indicate that it may be possible if sear engagement is lost.

States Newsroom reported in March that more than 100 people had reported issues with the P320 since its release in 2014. At least 80 injuries had been linked to accidental discharges, according to a 2023 joint investigation by The Trace, a news outlet dedicated to covering gun violence, and The Washington Post, States Newsroom said.

Sig Sauer’s P320 model has become one of the most popular guns in America, selling more than 2.5 million units, said the States Newsroom article. The P320 also has been the standard sidearm for the U.S. military since 2017.

Following a 2023 investigation, Sig Sauer has faced lawsuits from at least 15 more plaintiffs, said States Newsroom.

Since at least 2017, several law enforcement agencies, including the Milwaukee Police Department, the Dallas Police Department and the SEPTA transit police in Philadelphia, as well as other agencies in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin, have pulled the P320 from their arsenals due to concerns over misfirings, according to the States Newsroom article.

Sig Sauer released a statement in March insisting that the P320 cannot discharge without a trigger pull. “The allegations against the P320 are nothing more than individuals seeking to profit or avoid personal responsibility,” the company said.

Sig called the P320 pistol one of its most trusted, most tested and most popular products. Certain individuals have ulterior motives for the allegations that the P320 can fire without a trigger pull, said the company, but they have no evidence, no data and no empirical testing to support the claims.