Former NYPD Officer Sues Gunmaker Over Faulty Handguns
In 2017, Honor Defense was called out by the gun community for making weapons that can fire when dropped. Now a police officer is suing the company after he was shot by his.
BY ALAIN STEPHENS
July 22, 2019
Honor Defense, a Georgia gunmaker dogged by complaints of faulty pistols, has been sued by a former police officer who claims one of its weapons malfunctioned and caused him serious injury.

In a lawsuit filed in Florida District Court, Ernest Huang, a retired New York City police officer, alleges that his still-holstered Honor Guard 9mm pistol fired when he accidentally dropped it. The misfired round sliced through Huang’s left leg, shattering the bone, before piercing the ceiling. Huang says the incident happened just a few feet away from his two young children and pregnant wife. His injuries may leave him permanently disabled.

Huang’s lawyers allege that Honor Defense was negligent in developing and selling a weapon that is not “drop safe,” shorthand for a firearm’s ability to withstand a fall without discharging. They argue that Honor Defense knew about widespread issues with its products for over a year but failed to take necessary action or adequately warn its customers.

“Honor Defense should have recalled the Honor Guard,” wrote Jenny Kim, who is representing Huang, in an emailed statement to the Trace. “[The gun] is not drop safe.”

Honor Defense, which did not respond to request for comment, has repeatedly noted that its handguns meet industry standards for drop safety. Those standards, however, are not enforced by any federal entity. Instead, they’re established by outside organizations like the industry-funded Sporting Arms Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI). It’s completely voluntary for gun companies to submit their products for testing.

Some critics have argued that the SAAMI’s assessments are inadequate to ensure gun owners’ safety. SAAMI’s tests, for example, do not evaluate firearms dropped at a 30 degree angle, which has been shown by independent reviewers to cause several models of pistols, including those made by Honor Defense and Sig Sauer, to discharge. Andrew Tuohy, a firearms writer who drop tested a Sig Sauer P320 pistol, told Guns.com in 2017 that the organizations creating safety standards “should come at this from a ‘worst case scenario’ mindset rather than the current mindset, which seems to have set extremely minimal standards.”

Honor Defense was founded in 2014 by Gary Ramey, the former vice president of sales and marketing for Beretta USA. The company specializes in subcompact pistols sold in the $300-$400 range. Besides complaints about the Honor Guard’s ability to fire when dropped, the model has received generally positive reviews.

Honor Defense is a privately held company, and does not disclose how many firearms it has sold to civilians. (The company manufactured 9,500 9mm pistols between 2016 and 2017, according to ATF data.) But according to the company’s website, several law enforcement agencies have approved the weapon for back-up or off-duty gun carry, including the Fresno Police Department in California and the Huntsville Police Department in Texas. Neither department returned a request for comment.

Huang’s lawsuit is not the first time Honor Defense has found itself accused of making unsafe weapons. In 2017, the company came under scrutiny in the gun community after Patrick Roberts, the founder of The Firearm Rack, published a YouTube video demonstrating how the Honor Guard pistol could fire if dropped or tapped by a rubber mallet.



In his video, Roberts said that he alerted Honor Defense to his concerns with their products months earlier, but was told by the editor of The Firearms Blog, his-then-employer, to stay silent on the matter. Roberts struck out on his own to tell his story. “For them to continue selling them, and pretending like there is nothing wrong is irresponsible,” Roberts said. “I certainly hope [Honor Defense] stand up and do the right thing.”

Within days of the video, several other other websites were able to replicate Roberts’ demonstration, showing the gun improperly discharging.

In a post on its company Facebook page, Honor Defense issued a statement in response to the videos. “Any firearm can discharge when dropped,” it read. “Like any user of a firearm, users of Honor Defense’s products must handle firearms in a safe manner.” In the comments section of the post, Honor Defense added, “no gun company can overcome Darwin.”

Ramey, the company’s president, doubled down during an appearance on Concealed Carry Podcast. “Let’s be honest, no firearm is drop safe,” Ramey said, adding that he was investigating the claims. “I don’t think anyone would get their favorite brand, pull the kids out into the driveway… and toss a gun in the middle.”

The company then released its own video showing an Honor Guard pistol repeatedly struck by a mallet but not discharging. Some commenters questioned the veracity of Honor Defense’s tests.

A month after Roberts’ video, Honor Defense offered a “voluntary upgrade,” to its pistols. On the upgrade page, the company stresses its products exceed drop test criteria, and that the upgrade will create “increased drop performance” beyond current safety standards.

“A discrete listing on their website for a ‘voluntary upgrade’ does not even come close to satisfying the standard of care owed by Honor Defense to its customers,” said Huang’s lawyer, Kim.

Such “upgrades” are common in the gun industry, which has a history of stopping just short of a full recall or an admission of responsibility for defective products.

In 2017 Sig Sauer announced a “voluntary upgrade” for its P320, a pistol that shares the Honor Guard’s chassis-based design. The P320, as it happened, also shared a similar issue of firing when dropped. Sig allegedly knew about the problem before selling 500,000 of the faulty pistols to the public. Again it was gun YouTubers who brought the issue to light. Three police officers later sued the company after being accidentally shot by the weapons.

https://www.thetrace.org/2019/...n-drop-fire-lawsuit/

The Darwin comment a bit cold.

Hell, I accidentally dropped a j frame once and had full confidence it wouldn't fire, which is how it should be.

Looks like a crappy Taurus knockoff.

quote:

Originally posted by maximus_flavius:
Looks like a crappy Taurus knockoff.

Kinda what I was thinking. Why not buy a reputable brand? I mean, pick one. There’s plenty of choices. Why go scraping the barrel?

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:

quote:

Originally posted by maximus_flavius:
Looks like a crappy Taurus knockoff.

Kinda what I was thinking. Why not buy a reputable brand? I mean, pick one. There’s plenty of choices. Why go scraping the barrel?

Reputable like a Sig P320? Because those have never fired when dropped.

Actually I do agree with you and would never buy some guns for serious purposes. But it’s completely fair of the officer to expect that his gun wouldn’t fire when dropped. I do think that he should have invested in a better gun, but Sig proved to us all that price doesn’t equal drop safe.

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:

quote:

Originally posted by maximus_flavius:
Looks like a crappy Taurus knockoff.

Kinda what I was thinking. Why not buy a reputable brand? I mean, pick one. There’s plenty of choices. Why go scraping the barrel?

We had a private security guard where I used to work at. I was talking to him one day when he started telling me about all of the premium handguns he owned. I asked him if he owned such well known brands, why was he packing in uniform a Kel-Tec? He stumbled a bit and said that he did not want to possibly "mess up" one of his "nicer" guns while working. He is not the first one I have run into who told me something like that. I know he probably did not really own a better gun so I tried not to laugh in his face.

Don't forget the Walther CCP or the PPS M2 recall for firing when dropped.

I have been handling guns for over sixty year of my seventy seven year life,I have never dropped one,that many brands of Pistols ,Rifles ,Shotguns and machine guns.
IMHO he is a dumb cheap ass.

I bet Ive dropped pistols a dozen times. Never had 1 discharge. Why? Because they are quality guns.

I have no sympathy for people who buy cheap guns & then they don’t work like a quality firearm would.

quote:

Originally posted by 45 Cal:
I have been handling guns for over sixty year of my seventy seven year life,I have never dropped one,that many brands of Pistols ,Rifles ,Shotguns and machine guns.

It's not just that the guns fire when dropped. They also fire when the gun is struck. Ever banged a gun into something? Caught your strong side hip on a doorway? Tagged the side of the safe when removing a rifle? Tripped and fell while carrying a concealed handgun? Wrestled with a combative subject with a gun on your hip?

Unless you're the type of shooter who only ever babies their guns, taking them out of the safe to go into a padded case to drive to the range to sit at a table and shoot holes in paper, I'll bet you have inadvertently banged a gun into something at some point.

Guns that are used for hunting, self defense, active training, law enforcement, etc. get banged around. It's a fact. They absolutely should not discharge from impacts to the firearm.

quote:

I have no sympathy for people who buy cheap guns & then they don’t work like a quality firearm would.

That’s a little harsh. Not everybody views shooting as a hobby and not everybody can afford even mid grade for self defense. I’m not saying one should expect a hi point etc. to run like a Glock but they should expect the product to at least be minimumly safe for use.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Don't forget the Walther CCP or the PPS M2 recall for firing when dropped.

Or the Sig P320.

I don't buy cheap guns, either, but even the best of manufacturers gets it wrong on occasion.

Caveat emptor ...

To sue is a bitch move, when you bought a cheap gun........my 2cents

"I am the only one here professional enough to drop the Honor Guard 9mm!"

From Honor Defence's website:

"Recent events indicate that handling an Honor Guard pistol beyond U.S.A. safety standards by dropping or striking the firearm with a hammer may cause an unintentional discharge. As a result, Honor Defense has developed an upgrade to the Honor Guard striker assembly (within the slide).

To receive the upgrade, go the Honor Defense website and follow the directions outlined in the Honor Guard Upgrade section. Once received, Honor Defense will upgrade your slide unit and promptly return it to you.
This upgrade will provide increased drop performance beyond U.S.A safety standards and is available to all owners of an Honor Guard pistol."

So they admit it is not drop safe.

Glocks are inexpensive. Classic Sigs are getting more affordable. Handling them is simple. You do the math.

Because in the end, the one that doesn't shoot you in the leg is the less expensive gun.

H&K-Guy

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

Or the Sig P320.

Or the 1911.

wonder if they could countersue for mishandling the firearm to begin with

quote:

Originally posted by maximus_flavius:
I bet Ive dropped pistols a dozen times. Never had 1 discharge. Why? Because they are quality guns.

I have no sympathy for people who buy cheap guns & then they don’t work like a quality firearm would.

I hope this statement is hyperbole. If you've actually dropped loaded pistols a dozen times, I would suggest that you find another hobby, or at least stay very far away from everyone else!

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Don't forget the Walther CCP or the PPS M2 recall for firing when dropped.

Or the Sig P320.

I don't buy cheap guns, either, but even the best of manufacturers gets it wrong on occasion.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
Or the 1911.

Or Canik.

Or Glock. For those with a selective or short memory.

Lots of guns have had problems with accidental discharge. As long as firearms have been made. Hell, I have a Broomhandle Mauser that has an "NS" on the hammer, who would like to explain that to me?.....

A cheap gun isn't necessarily an unsafe gun. Manufacturers can handle this better, and few are immune from producing a flawed firearm, because history is long and still in progress.

The first thing to do, however, is not drop your guns.

I've never dropped a gun, just like I've never put my hands through the table saw. It is a daily effort that requires a degree of personal responsibility.

I'd say that it is absolutely true that the testing for drop safety needs to be changed. I'd also say that no matter what, no firearm should ever be considered or treated as 100% drop safe.

The only real safety is between your ears. This will never change.

quote:

In a lawsuit filed in Florida District Court, Ernest Huang, a retired New York City police officer, alleges that his still-holstered Honor Guard 9mm pistol fired when he accidentally dropped it. The misfired round sliced through Huang’s left leg, shattering the bone, before piercing the ceiling. Huang says the incident happened just a few feet away from his two young children and pregnant wife. His injuries may leave him permanently disabled.

Assuming that's what really happened. But even the P320 was found to fire if dropped a certain way, so I'll give the benefit of the doubt. (BTW, mine was one of those affected, so I had the safety upgrade done.) Now to the real point. Did he buy this gun before or after he retired? Is the injury what precipitated his retirement? I ask because I thought NYPD had pretty strict rules on what handguns can be carried, even off duty, and it seems unlikely that they would approve an out of the mainstream or "off" brand.

[Thread drift]

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

Or the Sig P320.

Or the 1911.

Huh?

The 1911 has a slide lock, a grip safety, and a half cock notch. And the guy who invented it made the firing pin shorter than the channel it must travel thru to strike a primer...to prevent drop firing...when the companies started putting firing pin blocks in them in the 80’s; that was just to appease the lawyers. There is nothing unsafe about a series 70 1911.

[/drift]