More than 60,000 Fortress gun safes recalled after report of child’s death and dozens of other reported breaches

Reporter: Andryanna Sheppard
Published: Updated:

Thousands of biometric gun safes from the brands Fortress, Cabela’s, Gettysburg, and Legend Range and Field are being recalled because of a programming feature that can allow unauthorized access to the safes, posing “a serious safety hazard and risk of death.”

“Consumers can believe they have properly programmed the biometric feature when in fact the safe remains in the default to open mode, which can allow unauthorized users, including children, to access the safe to remove hazardous contents, including firearms,” the Consumer Product Safety Commission said in its recall announcement.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Fortress Safe, there is a lawsuit claiming a 12-year-old boy died from a gun taken from one of the now recalled safes. There have also been 39 different reports from people claiming their safes were accessed by unpaired fingerprints.

gun safe
Recalled Fortress Portable Safe with Biometric Lock, Model 11B20, Consumer Product Safety Commission

The CPSC advises those with these safes to immediately stop using the biometric feature, remove the batteries from the safe, and only use the key to store any guns. Contact Fortress Safe to learn how to disable the biometric feature and receive a free replacement safe.

The below models are recalled:

  • 11B20: Fortress Portable Safe with Biometric Lock
  • 44B10: Fortress Personal Safe with Pop up door and Biometric Lock
  • 44B10L: Legend Range & Field Personal Safe with Pop up door and Biometric Lock
  • 44B20: Fortress Medium Personal Safe with Biometric Lock
  • 55B20: Fortress Quick Access Safe with Biometric Lock
  • 55B30: Fortress Large Quick Access Safe with Biometric Lock
  • 55B30G: Gettysburg Large Quick Access Safe with Biometric Lock
  • 4BGGBP: Cabela’s 4 Gun Safe with Biometric Lock
  • 55B30BP: Cabela’s Biometric Personal Safe

Model numbers are above the barcode on a label on the back of the safe and on the top right corner of the original packaging.

This recall comes as studies and reports have found an increasing number of children and teens are dying from gunshots. Data from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention found more than 45,000 people died in the United States from gun-related injuries. 22.5 percent of those deaths were people ages 1 to 19. In 2020, The University of Michigan found death from firearms had surpassed car crashes as the primary cause of death in American children and teens for the first time in its 60 years of compiling numbers.

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