Service member reloads an M18 pistol on the flight deck of the destroyer USS Ralph Johnson while underway in the Philippine Sea on Feb. 22, 2025. (U.S. Navy)
The Air Force ordered all its M18 pistols inspected after the death of a security forces airman last month sparked concerns about the safety of the gun used widely across the U.S. military.
The “service-wide supplemental inspection” of the about 125,000 M18s used by the Air Force was ordered to “validate the serviceability of weapons and reinforce confidence in their use,” an Air Force spokesperson said Monday.
The inspection efforts began shortly after 21-year-old Airman Brayden Lovan was killed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., on July 20 when an M18 discharged while he was on duty at the intercontinental ballistic missile base.
Multiple investigations into Lovan’s death and the safety of the M18 pistol were ongoing, Air Force officials said. Air Force Global Strike Command’s pause on the use of the M18 also remained in place. Meanwhile, some commanders in Air Force Combat Command — the service’s largest four-star command — had also ordered a temporary halt of the use of the pistol “as a precautionary measure until airmen undergo refresher training,” a service official said.
Air Force officials declined to say Monday whether the M18 probes had determined if the bullet that struck Lovan was the result of a negligent discharge, a criminal act or a so-called “uncommanded” discharge — a rare incident when a gun fires without the trigger pulled.
A lawyer representing Lovan’s family in the wake of the tragic incident has asserted Lovan’s death was the result of an “uncommanded” discharge, which he said follows a pattern of such incidents occurring with M18 and other nearly identical firearm models produced by New Hampshire’s Sig Sauer. The M18 and its larger M17 version used primarily by the Army are both versions of Sig’s popular P320, a striker-fired, semi-automatic 9mm handgun with military, law enforcement and civilian versions.
Robert Zimmerman with the law firm Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky said Lovan’s mother Melinda Tucker and other family members are encouraging the military to halt the use of the M18 and other P320 variants.
“In the midst of their unimaginable grief, Brayden’s family members are deeply concerned that what happened to him — a lethal uncommanded firing of a P320-variant pistol — could at any moment happen to another member of the armed forces, law enforcement or civilians that own or use Sig Sauer P320s,” said Zimmerman, who represents more than 100 individuals who have alleged injuries or fatalities via defective P320s.
Sig has faced multiple lawsuits in recent years by law enforcement officials and civilians who have claimed their P320s have fired without the trigger being touched. In recent weeks, dozens of shooting ranges and a handful of law enforcement agencies have announced they would ban the use of P320s.
But Sig Sauer has long denied the P320 has any safety issue and has pushed back against such allegations.
In a lengthy statement issued last week to its customers, Sig argued P320 owners and operators — including those in the military — have nothing to worry about. The gunmaker said it was cooperating in the Air Force’s investigation into the M18, calling Lovan’s death the result of a “tragic incident.”
“The P320 pistol is one of the safest, most advanced pistols in the world — meeting and exceeding all industry safety standards,” the Sig Sauer statement reads. “Its design has been thoroughly tested and validated by the U.S. military and law enforcement agencies at the federal, state and local levels. In addition, the P320 has been rigorously tested, and is currently in use by militaries and law enforcement agencies around the world. … The P320 CANNOT, under any circumstances, discharge without the trigger first being moved to the rear.”
While the Air Force spends the coming weeks inspecting its M18s, the Pentagon’s other military services are standing by their Sig pistols. Officials from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps said they were all aware of the ongoing Air Force investigations, but they had no current plans to change policies or inspect their M18s and M17s.
“We value the safety of our forces and will continue to monitor the situation closely,” an Army spokesperson said Monday.
