120,000 Gun Safes Recalled in US after Young Children Easily Open Them
Over 120,000 biometric gun safes have been recalled in the US due to a dangerous flaw that allows children as young as six to open them, posing a risk of serious injury or death.
The federal Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reported 91 instances of unauthorized users accessing these Chinese-made gun safes from brands like Bulldog Cases, Awesafe, Machir, and MouTec, some of which have been on the market since 2019.
No injuries or deaths have been reported in connection with these recalls, which were done voluntarily in collaboration with the companies involved, according to the agency.
This focus on the products follows a previous recall related to a fatal incident where a 12-year-old accessed a gun from a fortress safe without permission, stated CPSC chair Alex Hoehn-Saric.
After this incident, the CPSC intensified its examination of these products to determine if there was a broader safety issue, said Mr. Hoehn-Saric.
The CPSC advised consumers who purchased the recalled safes through retailers like Amazon and Walmart to immediately stop using the biometric feature and switch to the key option for storing firearms until they can replace the safes. They can reach out to the companies for a free repair kit or replacement.
The agency is still investigating how unauthorized individuals were able to access the safes, according to Mr. Hoehn-Sari.
One of the companies involved in the recall, Bulldog Cases, sold 33,500 of the affected safes.
Manufacturers should not ship safes with default factory settings, say regulators. Pic: CPSC
The company stated that there were no mechanical issues with the biometric locks or the recalled safes. The safes were sent out to retailers in “demonstration mode”, allowing any fingerprint to open them until properly programmed, according to the company’s vice president, Brandon Rutledge.
He emphasized the importance of programming the safes correctly to prevent unauthorized access.
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CPSC commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. called for all manufacturers to ensure that biometric gun safes are not shipped with a default factory setting that allows them to be opened with any fingerprints.
He emphasized the potential danger of having unsecured firearms in 120,000 homes due to improper programming.
“It’s terrifying when you think you’ve done the right thing,” he added.
While gun safes fall under CPSC oversight, guns themselves are exempt from federal consumer product regulation due to the law that established the agency in 1972.
This means gun manufacturers are not subject to mandatory federal recalls and safety standards, a loophole that gun safety advocates and some members of Congress are working to address.
