SIG Sauer, the New Hampshire-based manufacturer of a popular handgun tied to more than 100 accidental shooting injuries, is facing a new lawsuit claiming that the gun caused the death of a Pennsylvania father.
Roman Neshin, 41, died October 1 in his Bucks County home after a bullet fired from his SIG Sauer P320 pistol pierced his groin and punctured his femoral artery, according to the lawsuit and an interview with his widow’s attorney. Neighbors found him lying unresponsive in his basement hours later with an unused tourniquet in his lap and a cellphone by his side. The lawsuit indicates that plastic fragments were found in Neshin’s wound, suggesting that the gun fired while at least partially seated in its holster.
The lawsuit — filed by Neshin’s widow, Mariya Gomelskaya, in a Philadelphia court on December 3 — alleges that a defect in the design of the P320 made it unreasonably susceptible to unintentional discharge.
In an email to The Trace, SIG Sauer did not comment on the new lawsuit. The company said it provides “printed materials with every pistol with numerous warnings,” and that the safety manual advises “against carrying a round in the chamber until ready to fire.”
Neshin’s death deepens the controversy embroiling SIG Sauer as its flagship handgun is tied to an increasing number of unintentional shooting injuries. On November 20, a Philadelphia jury awarded $11 million in damages to Army veteran George Abrahams, who suffered a gunshot wound to his leg while descending a staircase at his home with a P320 zipped into his pants pocket.
Jurors concluded that SIG Sauer was liable for Abrahams’s shooting because it had not designed the P320 with an external safety like that used on Glocks and other pistols. External safeties generally prevent a gun’s trigger from moving backward when dropped, or when indirect pressure, like that from a holster, is applied.
In April 2023, an investigation by The Trace and The Washington Post revealed that more than 100 people had alleged that their P320s fired on them without a trigger pull, resulting in at least 80 injuries.
SIG Sauer has maintained that the incidents were the result of unsafe handling and that the P320 is safe to use. But in the year since, the number of shootings and injuries has continued to grow. At least 15 additional plaintiffs have sued the gunmaker, and evidence has surfaced of at least 20 additional injuries.
The P320 is one of the most popular guns in America, owned by hundreds of thousands of civilians and used by officers at more than a thousand police agencies. One day after the Abrahams verdict, the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation’s largest law enforcement group, sent a letter to SIG Sauer requesting an accounting of measures taken by the company to address widespread concerns about the P320’s safety. The letter cited a recent decision by the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission to temporarily suspend use of the gun in training facilities following a spate of unintentional shootings across the state.
“These reports raise serious questions about the safety and reliability of the P320,” the letter reads. “These concerns must be addressed promptly and transparently to protect officers and the communities they serve.”
Gomelskaya filed her suit in the same court that heard Abrahams’s case. She is the second person to blame a defective P320 pistol for an unintentional shooting death. The first incident involved a Colorado man who said his gun fired a bullet into his wife’s neck during a Christmas party in 2018. After a criminal jury convicted that man of negligence, he withdrew his lawsuit against SIG Sauer.
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In June, a Georgia jury delivered SIG Sauer its first legal loss, awarding $2.35 million in damages to Robert Lang, whose holstered P320 fired a bullet into his thigh as he attempted to remove the gun from his waistband. Days later, New Hampshire Public Radio revealed that nine U.S. military personnel experienced unintentional discharges with a military variant of the gun, which includes an external safety. The shootings collectively injured five soldiers.
Two shootings in the Austin, Texas, area prompted the Marble Falls Police Department to abandon the P320 as a duty weapon in September. One of the shootings involved a Marble Falls High School resource officer, whose gun discharged at a school football game. In late November, the Derby Police Department in Kansas made a similar move, switching from SIG Sauer to Glock due to concerns about the P320’s safety.
Robert Zimmerman, the lawyer representing Gomelskaya, Abrahams, and roughly 60 additional plaintiffs in various lawsuits stemming from P320 shootings, told The Trace that Neshin’s death is the realization of his worst fears. “I had been predicting for some time that something like this could happen,” he said. “If SIG continues this path, I can’t imagine Mr. Neshin will be my only client who has died at the hands of the P320.”
Zimmerman said he has 50 additional clients planning to file suit against SIG Sauer after the new year.
SIG Sauer has said it plans to appeal the Lang and the Abrahams verdicts. In a statement released shortly after the Abrahams verdict was announced, the company criticized the jury’s decision as “unsupported by” and “contrary to” the evidence presented in the case.
The P320 “is among the most tested, proven, and successful handguns in recent history, with versions being selected as the official sidearm of the U.S., Canadian, Australian, and Danish militaries, among many other military and law enforcement organizations worldwide,” the statement said. “SIG SAUER is extremely proud of our long history of producing high-quality firearms and our unwavering dedication to safety.”
Only one other P320 shooting lawsuit has reached a jury verdict — a 2022 case out of New Hampshire involving a man who was shot while trying to remove his holstered gun from his waistband. The case alleged a different kind of defect than the Lang or Abrahams suits, and the jury decided in SIG Sauer’s favor. At least 12 other cases against the company have been dismissed.
The Lang and Abrahams verdicts do not require SIG Sauer to alter the design of its P320, to issue a recall, or to warn the public about the weapon’s potential dangers. When a gun malfunctions — even if a jury decides that the malfunction is the result of a design or manufacturing flaw — it is up to the weapon’s maker to investigate the problem and notify the public.
No federal agency has the authority to investigate alleged gun defects or impose recalls. The Consumer Product Safety Commission, which regulates virtually every consumer good, including gun safes, nerf guns, and crossbows, is prohibited from regulating firearms.
Attempts by members of Congress to grant CPSC regulatory authority over the gun industry have routinely stalled in committee without reaching the House or Senate floors for a vote.
Editor’s note: This story was updated on December 5 to include a comment from SIG Sauer.
