(AP) CONCORD, N.H. New Hampshire-based Sig Sauer requested and received protection in the form of a new state statute that makes it more difficult to sue the gunmaker in response to growing lawsuits over a well-known handgun.
The bill was needed to assist a large company, according to supporters in the Republican-led Legislature. The lawsuits allege that the Sig Sauer P320 pistol can discharge without a trigger pull, a claim that the firm refutes.
When it comes to product liability claims concerning the presence or lack of four particular safety features, the law applies to all gun manufacturers and federal firearm licensees. According to those suing Sig Sauer, one of those features—an external mechanical safety—should come standard on the P320 because of the way it is designed. Manufacturing defect claims are still open.
Police, federal law enforcement officials, and other seasoned gun owners from several states have sued Sig Sauer in New Hampshire and other jurisdictions, claiming they were injured by the firearm.
In several instances, the manufacturer has won out. Two recent multimillion-dollar decisions against it in Georgia and Pennsylvania are being appealed.
After winning his case, George Abrahams, a Philadelphia painting contractor and veteran of the U.S. Army, claimed to have zipped up his P320, holstered it, and placed it in the pocket of his sports pants before heading downstairs.
He told The Associated Press in 2022, “All I did was come down the stairway and there was a loud explosion, followed by the excruciating pain and bleeding.” The bullet ripped into his right thigh, he claimed.
According to the firm, which employs more than 2,000 people in a state with lax gun regulations, the P320 includes internal safety features and has passed the most stringent testing and evaluation of any pistol by international law enforcement and military organizations. It claims that unsuitable holsters or human error, not the design, are the issue.
Do you support allowing consumers to bring legal action against automakers for selling vehicles without air conditioning? During a May debate, Deerfield Republican state representative Terry Roy told the House.
The bill’s opponents criticized it for providing a unique tort law exception that no other New Hampshire firm has ever received.
In an interview, Portsmouth Democrat state representative David Meuse stated, “I believe there is a difference between helping a large employer and creating an exemption that actually hurts people and doesn’t give them their day in court.” The headquarters of Sig Sauer are located in Newington, which is included in his district.
The gun business has broad legal immunity under a federal law passed in 2005. According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, New Hampshire is already one of 32 states that have enacted some kind of gun immunity legislation. Additionally, some states have weakened or removed their gun industry immunity laws.
Sig Sauer seeks help
Two weeks after a Pennsylvania-based law firm filed its latest complaint against the P320’s design in federal court in Concord on March 26, a Sig Sauer official requested assistance from New Hampshire politicians in April. More than 100 plaintiffs, including more than 70 in New Hampshire, are represented by the firm.
Bobby Cox, the company’s vice president of public affairs, testified, “We’re fighting all these court cases out of town, and every single court case we have to fight takes money away from Granite State residents and workers that we can employ and technology.”
On May 23, Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte signed the bill into law. Lawmakers stated that it is not relevant to the ongoing litigation. Sig Sauer’s attorneys, however, brought it up in support of their motion to either dismiss the March lawsuit or split up and move the claims of 22 plaintiffs to their home court districts. On July 21, there will be a hearing on the subject.
Ayotte’s office told The Keene Sentinel that she is proud to shield New Hampshire businesses that provide thousands of well-paying jobs from pointless lawsuits, but it did not reply to an AP request for comment.
In an emailed statement to the newspaper, Ayotte’s office stated that out-of-state trial lawyers seeking to earn money would not be able to secure a venue in New Hampshire.
According to Robert Zimmerman, the lead lawyer representing the plaintiffs in Pennsylvania, the lawsuits aim to amend the design of the weapon to make it safer for users.
According to Zimmerman, New Hampshire was selected because federal regulations permit legal action against a business in its home state. One federal judge in Concord has been designated to hear such cases.
In order for all parties to have a fair outcome—a trial that is judged on the merits—Sig is attempting to deliberately decentralize this case, forcing each client to visit 100 separate courthouses and slowing down the proceedings, Zimmerman stated in an interview.
Sig Sauer gets protection
Sig Sauer is accused in the claims of negligence, poor product design, and poor marketing.
Although you can purchase them with or without safety features, Roy stated during the House discussion that he owns a P320 and that it is one of his favorite firearms.
The plaintiffs claim that, although though it is an option, the safety feature is absent from the great majority of P320 units that are sold.
According to Sig Sauer, some customers want the functionality for extra security, while others like the quicker draw time provided by the lack of an external safety.
Among other features, Sig Sauer offered an optional upgrade in 2017 that included a different design that lightens the trigger. According to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, the improvement did not prevent inadvertent discharges.
States, industries and immunity
According to Daniel Pi, an assistant professor at the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law, it’s not a good picture when a manufacturer can create a statutory exception for itself, but it’s also not out of the ordinary.
Following a tragic school shooting in 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee approved a bill that provides stronger legal safeguards for gun and ammunition producers, dealers, and sellers. Legislators in Tennessee passed a second bill this year that would further restrict gun manufacturers’ liability.
This year, the governors of Georgia and North Dakota passed legislation giving Bayer, the company that makes the well-known weed killer Roundup, legal protections in a different industry: pesticides. 181,000 lawsuits have been filed against Bayer, claiming that the main component of Roundup causes non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Bayer contests those assertions.
A plan that will cap damages and shield nursing homes from the majority of lawsuits was passed by the Louisiana Legislature. Jeff Landry, the Republican governor, has not yet taken any action.
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