San Joaquin Deputies Pulled Off Street After Problems With Guns Not Firing

SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY (CBS13) - The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department pulled some its deputies off of the street while it handled an issue with its guns not firing.

Deputies discovered the problem with two of  the Sig Sauer .40 caliber handguns not firing at the gun range, and as a precaution, the department has pulled deputies from the streets while it remedies the issue.

Rather than test the more than 300 guns that were purchased over the last eight months, the department instead pulled all of them and gave the deputies old guns.

"We're not gonna take a chance that a gun is in service out there when a deputy sheriff may need to it protect their life or somebody else's and the gun fails," said Les Garcia with the sheriff's department. "That's unacceptable."

Nearby law enforcement agencies were being called on to pick up the slack while the issue was addressed between 12:30 and 3 p.m. Deputies were not all pulled off at once, instead brought in one by one.

The issue is likely tied to a pin that holds a spring in place inside the guns. The company says it was likely the wrong pin was installed in the guns. Sig Sauer is flying out to handle the issue on Friday.