A Bucks County widow is suing a gun manufacturer, saying its pistol design caused her husband’s death

The widow of a Bucks County man killed when a bullet unintentionally fired from his holstered gun sued the manufacturer of a pistol that has become notorious for accidents. The wrongful-death lawsuit comes a month after a Philadelphia jury hit the manufacturer, Sig Sauer, with an $11 million verdict in an unintentional-discharge case.

Roman Neshin, 41, was in the basement of his Feasterville home on Oct. 1 when his Sig Sauer P320 discharged in his holster, according to the complaint. A bullet pierced his groin, causing major bleeding.

Neshin attempted to apply a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, but it was too intense.

A neighbor found Neshin dead in the basement later that day. A plastic piece from his holster was found inside his pants, the lawsuit says.

Mariya Gomelskaya, the computer tech’s wife, sued Sig Sauer, alleging that the New Hampshire-based manufacturer was negligent when it sold a pistol with a deadly design defect.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia, is the latest by attorneys of the Philadelphia-based firm Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky, who represent more than 100 clients with similar claims. The complaint alleges that Sig Sauer was aware of the problem with its popular gun but continued to sell it and claim it was safe.

“Like many others, Mr. Neshin was lied to by SIG Sauer, and he paid the ultimate price for SIG Sauer’s lies and its defectively designed P320,” the complaint said.

Unlike most guns, the P320 does not have an external safety to prevent unintended discharges, the lawsuit alleges. Combined with the pistol’s short trigger, the lack of the common safety procuration makes the firearm “the most dangerous pistol in the United States,” according to the complaint.

Last month, a Philadelphia jury awarded $11 million to a Northwest Philadelphia man who was injured when his P320 discharged from his holster. George Abrahams suffered an injury similar to Neshin’s — a bullet pierced his thigh — but survived. A jury found that the P320 design was responsible for his injury and lasting pain.

» READ MORE: A Philadelphia man said his P320 pistol discharged unintentionally. A jury awarded him $11 million.

Sig Sauer did not respond to a request for comment. After the verdict last month, the company stood by its firearm’s design in a public statement.

“The P320 pistol is designed to discharge when the trigger is pulled and that is what happened in this case,” the company said, disputing Abrahams’ claim that the gun fired spontaneously.

The pistol has a history of alleged accidental discharges. At least 80 people were wounded because of what they say were unintentional P320 firings between 2016 and 2023, according to a 2023 investigation by the Washington Post and the Trace. SEPTA stopped using the model after the gun carried by one of its officers spontaneously fired inside Suburban Station in 2019.

The complaint accuses Sig Sauer of knowing that the gun is not safe, based on the company’s own testing, but continuing to sell the pistol to law enforcement departments and civilians like Neshin.

Guns are not regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission the way other products are, said Ryan Hurd, one of the Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky attorneys litigating these cases. The lawsuits aim to pressure the gun manufacturer to recall and redesign the P320.

“It’s up to Sig Sauer, and Sig Sauer alone, to make this change,” Hurd said.