One federal lawsuit specifically targets the Sig Sauer P365 for allegedly firing without a trigger pull, and it remains pending in New York while a much larger wave of litigation over the closely related P320 shapes the legal ground any Sig P365 lawsuit will be fought on. Two juries have found the P320 defectively designed, a federal appeals court has ruled that the absence of an external safety can support a design-defect claim, and multiple government agencies have pulled or paused Sig Sauer striker-fired pistols from service since 2024.
The One P365 Case: Ashe v. Sig Sauer
Troy, New York police detective Justin Ashe and his wife sued Sig Sauer on October 16, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.1Justia Dockets. Ashe et al v. Sig Sauer, Inc., 1:2023cv01281 The complaint says that on October 14, 2020, Ashe’s department-issued P365 discharged while holstered as he pulled up his pants in a police department restroom. The bullet broke his talus bone. He alleges ongoing pain, a permanent limp, and permanent loss of range of motion in his right leg.2Times Union. Troy Detective Sues Sig Sauer, Claims Gun Misfired
Ashe says his hands never touched the trigger because the pistol was still inside the holster when it went off.2Times Union. Troy Detective Sues Sig Sauer, Claims Gun Misfired His complaint calls the P365 “defective,” argues that its striker-fire design lacks an external safety, and cites hundreds of similar claims involving the P365 and a closely related model.3CBS 6 Albany. Troy Police Detective Sues Gun Maker, Claims Unintentional Firing
Court records show the case is still active. An initial scheduling conference was set for January 2024. No motion to dismiss or trial date appears in publicly available filings.1Justia Dockets. Ashe et al v. Sig Sauer, Inc., 1:2023cv01281
What Plaintiffs Say Is Wrong With the Pistol
The P365 is a striker-fired, short-recoil pistol. Its operator’s manual describes an internal “striker safety lock and disconnect safety” meant to prevent firing unless the trigger is fully pulled.4Sig Sauer. P365 Operators Manual Some P365 variants offer an optional ambidextrous manual thumb safety, but the standard model sold to most consumers and law enforcement agencies has no external safety beyond the trigger itself.
The manual warns: “When the trigger is pulled or depressed, even unintentionally — whether by a finger or foreign object — the P365 firearm will fire as designed.”4Sig Sauer. P365 Operators Manual Plaintiffs argue that is the problem. Without an external safety such as the tabbed trigger found on Glock pistols, they say, indirect pressure from a holster, clothing, or ordinary movement can depress the trigger. In Ashe’s case, the theory is that something reached the trigger through the holster as he adjusted his pants.
Sig Sauer denies this across all of its cases. The company maintains that neither the P365 nor the P320 can fire without a trigger pull and that the pistols contain no manufacturing defects.5Sig Sauer. Case Dismissed: Police Officer Admits His Sig Sauer P320 Pistol Cannot Discharge Without a Trigger Pull
Why the P320 Cases Matter for P365 Owners
The P365’s sibling, the P320, shares the same striker-fired operating principle and, in its standard configuration, the same lack of an external safety. More than 100 people have reported unintentional P320 discharges since 2016, with at least 80 documented injuries.6The Trace. Sig Sauer P320 Pistol Safety, ICE Ban Because the two pistols share the design feature at issue, P320 rulings are the closest available guide to how a P365 claim might fare.
Two Verdicts Against Sig Sauer
In June 2024, a federal jury in Atlanta awarded $2.35 million to Robert Lang of Alpharetta, Georgia, whose P320 discharged while holstered. The jury unanimously found Sig Sauer had defectively designed the pistol and failed to warn adequately, and concluded that the P320 lacked a trigger safety and required less trigger pressure to fire than the manual stated.7The Trace. Sig Sauer P320 Lawsuit Safety Issues It was the first time a jury found the P320 defectively designed.8NHPR. Jury Finds Sig Sauer Liable for Pistol Shooting, Awards $2.3M in Damages In February 2025, a federal judge denied Sig Sauer’s request for a new trial and upheld the full award.9NHPR. Judge Upholds $2.35M Verdict Against Sig Sauer Over Pistol Shooting in Georgia The company has said it plans further appeals.10Union Leader. Sig Sauer’s Bid to Get $2.3M Verdict Tossed Misfires
In November 2024, a Philadelphia jury awarded $11 million to George Abrahams, a U.S. Army veteran whose P320 discharged in 2020 while holstered in his pocket.11Philadelphia Inquirer. Sig Sauer P320 Accidental Discharge Philadelphia Lawsuit Sig Sauer has said it will appeal, noting that the jury also found Abrahams’s own negligence contributed to the incident and pointing to trial evidence that the trigger required at least seven pounds of force to discharge.12The Firearm Blog. $11 Million Verdict in P320 Lawsuit, Sig Sauer Plans to Appeal
An Appeals Court Endorses the Defect Theory
The Ashe case is not the only Sig Sauer suit out of the Troy Police Department. Officer Michael Colwell sued in 2021 after his holstered P320 allegedly discharged during a June 2021 training exercise, hitting him in the thigh.2Times Union. Troy Detective Sues Sig Sauer, Claims Gun Misfired In May 2026, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived Colwell’s claims in a 2-1 decision, ruling that a reasonable jury could find the accident would not have happened if the pistol had been equipped with an external tabbed trigger safety.13AOL News. Sig Sauer Must Face NY Lawsuit That reasoning is the same theory Ashe raises about the P365, and the ruling controls in the same circuit where his case is pending.
Cases Sig Sauer Has Won
Sig Sauer says that as of March 2025, 18 P320 unintentional-discharge lawsuits had been dismissed, which the company describes as “frivolous or unsupported.”5Sig Sauer. Case Dismissed: Police Officer Admits His Sig Sauer P320 Pistol Cannot Discharge Without a Trigger Pull In one, a Puerto Rico police officer voluntarily dismissed his case and stated in filings that his P320 “has no defects and does not discharge without a trigger pull.”
The Class Action Did Not Include the P365
P365 owners were not part of Hartley v. Sig Sauer, the class action that resolved claims from owners of P320 pistols manufactured before August 8, 2017. That settlement offered mechanical upgrades, no-cost repairs, and in some cases full refunds or replacement pistols, along with a transferable lifetime warranty against future discharge events.14Sig Sauer. Hartley v. Sig Sauer Class Action Settlement Notice The claim deadline was June 25, 2022, and the settlement was limited to the P320.15Sig Sauer. Hartley v. Sig Sauer Claim Form There is no equivalent P365 settlement.
Government Actions on Sig Sauer Pistols
Several agencies have taken steps that plaintiffs can cite as supporting evidence for a design-defect theory that reaches the P365.
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement banned officers from carrying the P320 on July 9, 2025, and directed its firearms division to transition to Glock pistols. An internal 2020 report had found that within 18 months of adopting the P320 in 2019, 12 ICE officers reported unintentional discharges, causing seven injuries. Court records showed at least three more agents were hurt through December 2022.6The Trace. Sig Sauer P320 Pistol Safety, ICE Ban
- Washington State’s Criminal Justice Training Commission permanently banned the P320 from its training facilities in 2025 after a recruit’s pistol discharged during a draw, injuring an instructor and another recruit.16SMBB. More Law Enforcement Agencies Reconsider Use of Popular Sig Sauer P320 Handgun
- In August 2024, an FBI report examining a Michigan State Police P320 that discharged while holstered found that an internal safety could be rendered inoperable by “movements representing those common to a law enforcement officer.”6The Trace. Sig Sauer P320 Pistol Safety, ICE Ban
Firearms are exempt from Consumer Product Safety Commission oversight under a 1972 congressional amendment, so no federal agency has authority to investigate firearm malfunctions, set design standards, or order a recall.17The Trace. Congress Gun Safety Bills, CPSC, Sig Sauer Any design change to the P365 would have to come from Sig Sauer voluntarily or through the pressure of litigation and lost contracts.
The New Jersey Attorney General’s Suit Targets the P320
On October 16, 2025, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin sued Sig Sauer under the state’s Firearms Industry Public Safety Law and Consumer Fraud Act.18NJ Office of the Attorney General. AG Platkin, SAFE Office and Division of Consumer Affairs Sue Sig Sauer Over Defective P320 Handgun The suit’s substantive claims are about the P320, not the P365, though the P365 appears in a footnote about Sig Sauer’s marketing. The state alleges the P320 is defective and that Sig Sauer deceptively marketed it as safe while knowing about the unintended discharge risk since at least 2017, and it faults the company for branding the pistol as the “Official Sidearm of the U.S. Military” without disclosing that the military versions require external thumb safeties not found on the civilian model.19NJ Office of the Attorney General. Platkin v. Sig Sauer Complaint
New Jersey is seeking a mandatory recall of P320s sold in the state, an injunction against further sales and advertising, and damages. Sig Sauer removed the case to federal court in November 2025 and moved to dismiss in January 2026, calling the claims “false and unsubstantiated.”20Sig Sauer. Sig Sauer Responds to New Jersey Attorney General’s Latest Attack on Firearms Industry The state moved to send the case back to state court. As of June 2026, the court has stayed the dismissal motion until it resolves the remand dispute.21CourtListener. Platkin v. Sig Sauer, Inc., 2:25-cv-17797
What P365 Owners Should Watch Next
The Ashe case will likely turn on the same question driving every P320 case: whether a striker-fired pistol without an external safety is defective by design, or whether unintended discharges reflect user error. Two juries have answered that question against Sig Sauer, for a combined $13.35 million in P320 verdicts. The Second Circuit’s May 2026 decision reviving Colwell’s claims applies reasoning that transfers directly to a P365 claim. And the New Jersey attorney general’s suit, if it survives the jurisdictional fight, could push the design into a broader public reckoning. There is no P365 class action, no P365 recall, and no P365 settlement program. Anyone who believes their P365 discharged without a trigger pull is bringing an individual case, and Ashe is the one currently on file.