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Roughly 61,000 biometric gun safes sold nationwide are being recalled after the shooting death of a 12-year-old boy, Fortress Safe and the U.S. Consumer Product Commission announced on Thursday.
The recalled safe poses a serious safety hazard and risk of death due to a programming feature that can allow unauthorized users, including children, access to the safe and its potential deadly contents, including firearms, according to the Naperville, Illinois-based company and regulatory agency.
CPSC noted a recent lawsuit alleging a 12-year-old boy had died from a firearm obtained from one of the safes. Additionally, the agency cited 39 incidents of safe owners reporting the product had been accessed by unpaired fingerprints.
The youth who died “suffered a lethal gunshot wound to the head” in January 2022 after he was able to access the safe in his home, according to a lawsuit filed earlier this year in a Nevada court, the New York Times reported.
The boy’s father has purchased the safe in March 2021 at a Scheel’s store in Nevada, the newspaper stated, citing the lawsuit.
Owners of the gun safes should stop using the biometric features, remove the batteries from the safe, and only use the key for the recalled safes.
Made in China, the recalled safes were sold at retailers nationwide including Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Gander, Lowe’s, Optics Planet, Rural King, Scheel’s and Sportsman’s Guide, as well as online at eBay and Amazon from January 2019 through October 2023 for between $44 and $290.
The recalled safes include the following model numbers: 11B20, 44B10, 44B10L, 44B20, 55B20, 55B30, 55B30G, 4BGGBP and 55B30BP.
Owners of the gun safes should stop using the biometric features, remove the batteries from the safe, and only use the key for the recalled safes.
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