Walmart, Amazon sold biometric gun safes not securely locked
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Several gun-safe companies issued recalls this week for their biometric gun safes over concerns that the locks on the safes might allow unauthorized individuals inside.
Altogether, more than 120,000 gun safes from Bulldog Cases, Machir, MouTec, and Awesafe are impacted by the recalls.
The recall notice, which was published by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission Thursday, says that the fact that the safes can be opened by unauthorized individuals poses “a serious injury hazard and risk of death,” presumably because an unauthorized individual could use the gun inside the case to shoot themselves or someone else.
While there have been quite a few reports of the safes being opened by unauthorized users, in one case a 6-year-old, there currently have been no reported injuries.
Awesafe
Awesafe represents the bulk of the recalls, with 60,000 safes in total being recalled by the company. The company also saw the bulk of the issues with the safes, with 71 reported incidents involving unauthorized users opening the biometric lock.
The safes in question are for two pistols and have a black exterior with the name Awesafe printed on the front.
The impacted Awesafe safes were sold on Amazon and at Walmart between August 2019 and December 7, 2022.
Bulldog
The recall includes Bulldog Magnum Biometric Pistol Vaults (BD4030B), Magnum Biometric Pistol Vaults with Shelf (BD4040B), and Magnum Biometric Top Load Pistol Vaults (BD4055B).
The impacted safes were sold at Bass Pro Shops, Walmart, and firearm stores nationwide from July 2016 through January 2024, for between $194 and $216.
MouTec
MouTec is recalling its BBRKIN Biometric Gun Safe (QCJJ01) after a 6-year-old boy was able to open the safe on his own.
The model in question was only sold on Amazon between September 2021 and February 2023.
Machir
Machir has seen 15 cases of unauthorized users opening its safes and is recalling a significant number of different cases, the serial numbers of which are listed on the official recall page. The safes were sold at Walmart and on Machir’s website from July 2019 to September 2021.
In all cases, the companies recommend that safe owners immediately stop using the biometric lock on their safe and remove its batteries. Instead, they should only use the safe’s key when storing firearms in the safe until it is repaired or replaced.
