The saga of the Sig Sauer P320 has been documented here and countless other places. At first, it was just a couple of issues that everyone thought Sig should address. Then the company got stupid, blamed anti-gunners for the controversy, and managed to earn a lot of negative press at the time.
This was despite videos showing the P320 going off while in people’s holsters.
Now, though, the controversy is the least of the issues with the latest unintentional discharge. It appears some military commanders are concerned someone has died because of it.
An Air Force command is temporarily barring the use of issued Sig Sauer sidearms amid an investigation into the death of an airman at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming over the weekend.
The active-duty Security Forces airman, assigned to the base’s 90th Security Forces Squadron, “died on base while on duty” in the early morning hours Sunday, a news release from the base said. While the identity of the service member has not yet been made public, nor has the circumstances of their death, Air Force Global Strike Command, or AFGSC, issued an immediate order pausing the use of 9mm Sig Sauer M18 handguns as a result of the incident.
“Air Force Global Strike Command has paused use of the M18 Modular Handgun System, effective July 21, 2025, until further notice,” Charles Hoffman, an AFGSC spokesperson, told Military.com. “This decision was made following a tragic incident at F.E. Warren AFB, WY, on July 20, 2025, which resulted in the death of a Security Forces airman.”
The Sig Sauer M18 is part of the firearm manufacturer’s P320 series, which has faced legal scrutiny after reported allegations of unintentional discharges among civilians, law enforcement and within the military. Air Force Global Strike Command is now doing a full inspection of the handguns.
This is, of course, the same pistol the FBI examined and found a flaw that would allow the guns to fire while being handled in normal law-enforcement functions.
As a Security Forces airman, the deceased would have been doing the exact same manipulations as a civilian police officer.
On Wednesday, Sig posted this on X.
— SIG SAUER (@sigsauerinc) July 23, 2025
They also locked replies.
I can’t say that I blame them there.
Look, this has gotten beyond ridiculous. Multiple police officers have allegedly been injured by these guns, and now it seems a member of our armed forces has died.
I can’t help but wonder now how many poor schlubs got smoked by an NCO because the NCO didn’t believe that their pistol “just went off” when it did. How many servicemen and women may have been injured by their issued sidearm because of this, and we just didn’t hear about it?
This has gotten way out of hand, and as far as I’m concerned, Sig Sauer has handled this entire situation so poorly that it invites speculation about the company’s culpability. They’ve been made aware of the issue, and rather than address it fully, they shift, complain about the criticism, and allegedly blacklist anyone who dares to talk about it.
This is on them, and they need to start doing something about it.
I have no personal animosity toward Sig. There are a number of their firearms I want. Badly. However, I’m also not going to ignore what’s happened, and I’m not going to let anyone pretend this isn’t an issue. Not with the evidence that’s floating around in public that anyone can evaluate.
I’l reserve judgement about the circumstances of the airman’s death until the Air Force investigation is complete. I have my suspicions though, and at this point I don’t they’re unreasonable.
Read the full article here