Illinois company recalls 61,000 biometric gun safes over potentially deadly malfunction

Naperville, Illinois-based Fortress Safe announced the recall of nearly 61,000 biometric gun safes because of a serious safety hazard, and potentially deadly malfunction that could give anyone access to the firearms inside.

The company announced the recall with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which warns owners of the safes that despite believing they may have properly programmed a fingerprint feature that gives the owner access to their firearms, the safe is in fact left in the default open mode.

Under default, unauthorized users, including children, can gain access to the safe and remove any hazardous items inside, including guns.

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A recent lawsuit alleges that a 12-year-old boy was able to access a firearm inside one of the safes in question, and died, according to CPSC.

There have also been 39 consumer-reported incidents in which the safes were accessed with unpaired fingerprints.

The nine models included in the recall are the Fortress Portable Safe with Biometric Lock (11B20); Fortress Personal Safe with Pop up door and Biometric Lock (44B10); Legend Range & Field Personal Safe with Pop up door and Biometric Lock (44B10L); Fortress Medium Personal Safe with Biometric Lock (44B20); Fortress Quick Access Safe with Biometric Lock (55B20); Fortress Large Quick Access Safe with Biometric Lock (55B30); Gettysburg Large Quick Access Safe with Biometric Lock (55B30G); Cabela’s 4 Gun Safe with Biometric Lock (4BGGBP); and Cabela’s Biometric Personal Safe (55B30BP).

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The safes were sold at places like Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Scheel’s, Sportsman’s Guide, Optics Planet, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Gander, Rural King, Lowe’s and several other stores across the country, along with Amazon and eBay, between January 2019 and October 2023, for $44-$290.

Anyone in possession of one of the recalled safes are advised to stop using the biometric feature immediately, the CPSC said, remove the batteries and just use the key if firearms are stored inside.

Consumers can also contact Fortress Safes to get instructions on how to disable the biometric feature and receive a free replacement safe.

Fortress Safe did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital about the recall.

All the recalled safes were manufactured in China and imported and distributed by Xpedition LLC, dba Fortress Safe.