Pistol misfire that injured soldier was an unpredictable accident: special forces report

Canada's special forces division has concluded that a misfire of a brand-new pistol that slightly wounded one soldier last fall was a freak accident.

A special technical investigation was launched after the incident involving a highly-trained member of the country's elite counter-terrorism unit, JTF-2.

On  Nov. 5, 2020, a recently-purchased SIG Sauer P320 pistol went off unexpectedly at a training range in Dwyer Hill, outside of Ottawa. The bullet struck a soldier in the leg.

The pistol, which has a history of accidental discharges, is the subject of a series of lawsuits in the United States.

The special forces investigation did not fault the SIG P320's advanced design and blamed instead a series of unforeseen circumstances.

"The investigation concluded the primary probable cause of the incident was due to a partial depression of the trigger by a foreign object combined with simultaneous movement of the slide against the pistol frame that then allowed a round to be fired whilst the pistol was still holstered," said a summary of the investigation, released to CBC News today. 

Responding to CBC News stories about the incident, the company was quoted in a pro-gun industry trade publication last winter blaming the use of an improper holster.

Holster wasn't entirely to blame: report

The investigation determined the holster was a factor but was not the sole cause.

"The investigation also determined that the previously issued holster employed at the time had not been modified for the new pistol," said the summary report.

"While the investigation concluded the use of a holster not specifically designed for the new weapon was found to be a contributing factor, it determined the use of any other holster would not necessarily have prevented the incident."

The incident raised questions about whether Canadian procurement officials did their research when the weapons were purchased in 2019.

The special forces investigation found no problem with the way the weapons were purchased.

The manufacturer, SIG Sauer, is a German weapons maker with its U.S. headquarters in Newington, N.H.

CBC News reached out to SIG Sauer and its Canadian distributor, M.D. Charlton, headquartered in Victoria, B.C., for comment on its original story.

Neither company responded. Instead, they took to pro-gun industry forums to offer rebuttals without answering questions.

The SIG P320 has been on the market since 2014. Several lawsuits in the U.S. have claimed the weapon is known to go off without the trigger being pulled if it's dropped and lands on the ground at a certain angle. 

But in both the U.S. court filing and pro-gun industry publications, SIG Sauer said that it rectified the issue with upgrades.

One of those fixes was made exclusively for the U.S. military. Court documents show those upgrades resulted in substantial changes to the weapon's internal design. 

The pistol is popular with commercial gun owners and law enforcement south of the border.

JTF-2 is the only unit in the Canadian military currently using the SIG P320.

It appears the military still has concern about the safety of the weapon.

The SIG P320s were taken out of service following the accident last fall. A statement from special forces today said that the pistols will remain on the shelf while a safety risk assessment is conducted by a third party.

That assessment will take a number of months to complete.

In the meantime, JTF-2 operators have returned to using their older model SIG P226s.