Sig Sauer, which makes the M17 and M18 pistols used by the U.S. military, issued a response after facing criticism over concerns about their sidearms after an airman was killed when an M18 discharged. Following the airman’s death, units within two Air Force commands ordered a pause on the use of the sidearm.
Both the M17 and M18 are military versions of Sig Sauer’s P-320 series pistols. For years, users have claimed that the pistol can fire without the trigger being pulled — a problem that came up when the weapons were being tested for military use, according to a January 2018 Defense Department report.
On Tuesday, Sig Sauer issued a statement disputing claims that P320 pistols are prone to firing accidentally without the user pulling the trigger, known as “uncommanded” discharges.
“The P320 CANNOT, under any circumstances, discharge without the trigger first being moved to the rear,” the company’s statement says. “This has been verified through exhaustive testing by SIG SAUER engineers, the U.S. Military, several major federal and state law enforcement agencies, and independent laboratories.”
The company’s statement comes after the head of Air Force Global Strike Command suspended the use of the M18 until further notice earlier this month pending the outcomes of investigations into the July death of Airman Brayden Lovan, 21, who was assigned to the 90th Security Forces Squadron at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, Additionally, some Air Combat Command units have also stopped using the M18, although the command as a whole has not suspended the pistol’s use.
Still, the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps continue to use the M18 and the larger M17 variant as the primary sidearms for service members.
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In its statement, Sig Sauer described Lovan’s death as a “tragic incident,” adding that Air Force Global Strike Command’s pause on using the M18 for training and operations is “standard procedure.”
The company also claimed that the P320 design has been “thoroughly tested and validated” by the U.S. military along with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.
Nevertheless, the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission has permanently banned using the P320 at training facilities following an incident in October, in which a recruit’s pistol apparently fired without the trigger being pulled.
In February, the commission issued a report on the incident that found six examples of uncommanded discharges involving M17 and M18 pistols at military bases since 2021. In one such incident, a service member was cleared of negligence due in part to “clear and convincing video capturing the event,” the report found.
In June, Sig Sauer filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to overturn the commission’s ban on P320 pistols.
CORRECTION: 08/05/2025; an earlier version of this story misstated the year when a Defense Department report that found problems with the M17 and M18 during testing was released It was published in 2018, not 2020.
