A federal judge has stepped directly into police equipment policy, ordering the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to stop using the SIG Sauer P320 duty pistol. Greg Copeland at KING 5 Seattle reported that the judge’s directive came amid safety concerns and lingering questions about how many officers still carry the handgun while the department phases it out. Jared Yanis at Guns & Gadgets called it “major news,” pointing out that Chicago is one of the country’s largest forces and that a ruling here could reverberate far beyond city limits.
How We Got Here
Copeland explained that Chicago had already started phasing out the P320 after reports – spanning Washington state and the nation – alleged the pistol can discharge without the trigger being pulled. KING 5’s investigative team has covered incidents “where the gun is suspected of firing on its own,” and Copeland noted that Washington’s state police training academy has banned the P320 from its program. SIG Sauer, for its part, has sued that academy, arguing the ban harms its reputation and reiterating the company’s position that the weapon cannot fire on its own.
What The Judge Demanded
According to Yanis, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Palmyer (as he identified her) issued a written order requiring any CPD officer who already has an alternate approved sidearm to stop carrying the P320 immediately. She also demanded clarity. Yanis said the court gave the city seven days to report exactly how many officers still carry the P320 on duty and to present a firm timetable for ending its use altogether. In other words, the court didn’t just nudge the department – it put it on a visible clock.
The Numbers Inside CPD
Both Yanis and gun rights YouTuber Liberty Doll detailed how CPD’s own process unfolded. CPD’s Arsenal Committee unanimously voted in April to phase out the P320 and directed about 1,540 officers to switch to another approved handgun by July 14. By mid-September, Yanis reported that roughly 756 officers had completed the transition while about 780 had bought a replacement but hadn’t finished the swap – often citing holster fit, gear changes, or awaiting pickup of the new firearm. Another 12 hadn’t complied because they were on leave or suspended. Liberty Doll emphasized that, by the union’s and the court’s math, hundreds were still carrying the P320 after the deadline – precisely the uncertainty the judge wanted resolved.
Union Wanted P320 Gone – But Warns Of ‘Misfire’
Interestingly, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 supported removing the P320, Liberty Doll said, after first asking CPD leadership to ban it. But the union also warned the judge’s ruling could “misfire,” as Yanis put it: not because the gun should stay, but because a court-driven rush risks confusion, incomplete retraining, holster incompatibilities, qualification scheduling crunches, and lower morale if officers feel changes are being imposed by a judge, not managed by their own department.
The union added a sober legal point quoted by both creators: it is “incredibly fortunate” that no officer or citizen has been injured by an unintentional P320 discharge in Chicago to date; if it happened after the city failed to act, litigation would be “expensive and unnecessary.”
Why The P320 Keeps Landing In Court
The P320 has lived in a crosswind of praise and controversy. Yanis referenced a Washington Post/The Trace investigation cataloging dozens of unintentional discharges tied to the model, often involving drops or bumps. Meanwhile, SIG Sauer continues to defend the platform vigorously, stating the pistol does not fire without a trigger pull and fighting bans it views as reputationally damaging – a posture Copeland highlighted in covering SIG’s lawsuit against Washington’s police academy. This is a classic split-screen: allegations and anecdotes on one side, manufacturer assurances and litigation on the other, with agencies stuck in the middle trying to manage risk in the real world.
Consent Decree Pressure And Public Safety Optics
Yanis tied the ruling to something larger than a single pistol: Chicago’s federal consent decree. Since 2019, CPD has been under court-ordered reform, which includes maintaining safe and effective equipment. If a sidearm model is credibly linked to unintentional discharges, a judge can reasonably see continued use as a consent-decree problem. Yanis also noted that CPD’s own data show use-of-force indicators trending up: from 2022 to 2024, instances of officers pointing firearms reportedly rose 44%, and in more than half of those cases, the subject had no gun. Put bluntly, the optics are bad: officers are pointing more guns more often; questions swirl about a gun’s safety; the court is watching. That is a potent recipe for judicial impatience.
Not A Total Ban – But A Forced Sprint
This is not a blanket, forever-and-everywhere ban, as Yanis clarified. It’s a judicial order to finish what CPD started, faster and more transparently. Still, the practical effect is similar in the short term: any officer with a viable alternative is done with the P320 now. The longer-term question is whether other departments will preemptively follow suit to avoid the same courtroom squeeze – or whether manufacturers and agencies will push back on courts dictating gear, arguing that decisions about sidearms belong with trainers, armorers, and chiefs, not judges.
A Manufacturer On The Defensive
Liberty Doll pointed to SIG Sauer’s active litigation posture in Washington as a sign the company won’t let bans and blacklists pass unchallenged. She also noted that some observers are already speculating Chicago lawmakers could target P320 sales locally, given the city’s broader appetite for regulating guns and the political momentum created by a federal court order. That’s conjecture for now, but it illustrates the risk of policy-by-litigation: once a court pronounces on safety in a high-profile case, policymakers often rush in behind the robe with broader prohibitions – sometimes faster than the facts can be sorted.
Training And Logistics: The Unseen Costs
Here’s where I think the union has a point – even as it supports the end goal. Sidearm changes are not like swapping flashlights. Holsters, retention systems, sight heights, trigger weights, recoil impulses, and reload ergonomics all differ. Yanis observed that rookie firearms blocks are typically 40 hours; getting hundreds of mid-career officers off the street for a week of re-training and re-qualification is doable, but it strains schedules, budgets, and coverage. And if, in the rush, an officer ends up in a lethal-force encounter with a weapon they’re not fully confident in, the fix introduces a new risk even as it mitigates another. The answer isn’t to slow-walk safety; it’s to plan like lives and careers depend on the details – because they do.
What To Watch Next
Yanis laid out the near-term checkpoints: Chicago’s seven-day report to the court (how many P320s remain and when they’ll be gone), any city or union appeal for more time, ripple effects as other agencies review their rosters, and SIG’s corporate response if lost contracts snowball. The civilian side can’t be ignored either: many P320s in private hands are not identical to law-enforcement configurations, but brand reputation doesn’t always split hairs. Departments exiting a platform can depress confidence among everyday owners, even if the technical issues differ.
The Bigger Constitutional Question
There’s a principled debate simmering here that Yanis surfaced: is this judicial overreach? Courts interpret law; executive branches run departments. The counterargument is that Chicago invited court supervision through the consent decree. If the decree says “safe, effective equipment,” and a judge decides the department isn’t meeting that standard, she’s arguably doing exactly what federal oversight was designed to do. It’s uncomfortable – and it should be. No one should be blasé about courts picking sidearms. But when reform is court-ordered, the referee sometimes throws a flag.
A Right Call that Took Too Long
Copeland’s straight-ahead reporting, Yanis’s granular breakdown, and Liberty Doll’s union-centric perspective all converge on the same picture: CPD made the right call to phase out the P320, but took too long to finish, and the court lost patience. SIG’s categorical defense will continue in other forums, as it should – manufacturers get their day in court, too. In Chicago, though, the job now is speed with care.
Get officers into training. Match holsters and retention systems. Re-qualify without shortcuts. Communicate clearly so morale doesn’t crater. If the city does that, this episode can end with fewer accidental-discharge allegations, fewer lawsuits, and better-equipped officers. That’s a win worth the logistical pain – even if the path there was a judicial shove rather than a departmental stride.
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Ed spent his childhood in the backwoods of Maine, where harsh winters taught him the value of survival skills. With a background in bushcraft and off-grid living, Ed has honed his expertise in fire-making, hunting, and wild foraging. He writes from personal experience, sharing practical tips and hands-on techniques to thrive in any outdoor environment. Whether it’s primitive camping or full-scale survival, Ed’s advice is grounded in real-life challenges.
