More than 130,000 gun safes have been recalled amid numerous reports that they have been opened by unauthorized users, including children. No injuries have been reported.
SA Consumer Products Inc., of Rolling Meadows, Ill., announced it is recalling 133,370 Sanctuary and Sports Afield Biometric Firearm Safes. The products have a biometric feature that allows unpaired fingerprints to open the safe until a fingerprint is programmed. The company said it has received 77 reports of safes being opened by unauthorized users, including at least three children.
The recall is the third major instance of fingerprint scanner lock failures. Earlier this year, four manufacturers recalled 120,000 gun safes. Failure of the safety feature reportedly led to a 6-year-old child opening a safe. Last fall, 61,000 gun safes were recalled after a 12-year-old child died after reportedly opening a safe and obtaining a firearm that was stored inside.
“This deadly hazard appears to be widespread among biometric gun safes and across manufacturers,” Richard L. Trumka Jr., commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, said in a statement. “These hazardous safes are ticking time bombs. At this point, I can understand how it would be hard to trust the safety of biometric gun safes, in general. Don’t be surprised if there are more biometric gun safe recalls coming.”
Consumers who have recalled safes should stop using the biometric feature, remove the batteries from the safe and only use the key when storing firearms. Users should call SA Consumer Products at 855-215-5822 or email [email protected] to receive a free repair kit.
The Sanctuary Quick Access Biometric Home Safe can store two firearms. It was sold at Costco and other stores nationwide and at Costco.com for $75 to $100. The Sports Afield Home Defense 4-Gun Biometric Safe was sold at firearm and sporting goods stores nationwide and online for $500 to $600. Both types of safes were sold from July 2020 to November 2023.
For more information, visit https://sabiometricsaferecall.expertinquiry.com/.