Fortress Gun Safe Recall Issued After Defective Fingerprint Lock Linked to Child’s Death

Following the death of at least one child, about 61,000 Fortress gun safes with defective fingerprint locks have been recalled because they may allow anyone to access the dangerous contents, including firearms that responsible gun owners believe are safely locked away.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced the Fortress gun safe recall on October 19, after the agency became aware of at least one lawsuit involving the death of a 12-year-old boy, who died from a firearm after he was able to access the locked safe. In addition, CPSC officials indicate they have received at least 39 consumer complaints involving unauthorized users, including children, opening the locked biometric safes with unpaired fingerprints.

The recalled safes were designed to store guns and other hazardous items in a locked box, cabinet, or vault using a programmable biometric feature that opens the safe by scanning a person’s fingerprint and comparing it with the fingerprint saved in the device’s memory.

However, officials warn that a flaw in the biometric feature can cause the fingerprint lock to remain in the default open mode after consumers program it to unlock with specific fingerprints, allowing any user to open and remove potentially dangerous items from the safe.

Fortress Gun Safe Recall

The recall impacts approximately 61,000 biometric gun safes manufactured and distributed by Xpedition LLC, dba Fortress Safe, and includes the following models:

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

The safes retailed between $44 and $290, and were sold in Bass Pro Shops, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lowe’s, Cabela’s, Scheel’s, Sportsman’s Guide, Optics Planet, Gander, and Rural Kings stores, as well as online at Amazon.com and Ebay.com from January 2019 until October 2023.

Consumers are urged to immediately stop using the biometric feature, remove the safe batteries, and only use the key to open the safes, especially those being used to store firearms or other hazardous items.

For more information on disabling the biometric feature, and to receive a free replacement safe, consumers can contact Fortress Safes toll-free at 833-588-9181 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. MT Monday through Friday, or online at https://www.fortresssafe.com/biometric-product-recall.html or www.fortresssafe.com.

Consumers may also report any incidents or injuries related to the safes or any other product to the CPSC online at www.SaferProducts.gov.