183,000 Stack-On biometric gun safes’ programming can fail, allowing anyone, including children, to access firearms that were thought to be secured.  Despite CPSC staff’s evaluation, Stack-On has refused to conduct an acceptable recall. That puts the burden on consumers to remedy the hazard in their home. 

You should immediately remove the batteries that power the biometric feature and disable the biometric feature by puncturing the biometric reader with a screwdriver or chisel.  If you follow those steps, your safe will still work with its lock and key.    

Unfortunately, this deadly hazard appears among many models of biometric gun safes, and across manufacturers.  In fact, today marks the fifth wave of biometric gun safe warnings or recalls for this problem.  In October 2023, the first 61,000 gun safes were recalled, following the death of a 12-year-old boy.^[1]  In February 2024, over 120,000 more biometric gun safes were recalled from four additional manufacturers.^[2]  In June 2024 another 133,000 Sports Afield and Sanctuary biometric gun safes were recalled.^[3] And in August 2024, CPSC warned against the use of 7,600 Owsoo or Cacagoo gun safes.^[4]

A gun safe that anyone can open is a ticking time bomb. If I couldn’t tell whether my biometric gun safe was covered by one of the recalls or warnings, I would disable the biometric feature to be safe and just use the lock and key until I checked with the manufacturer.       

This recall covers the following safes, identified by photo and product name:

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model E‐69‐MB‐B‐S

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model PC‐1665‐B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model PC‐650‐B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model PC‐900‐B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model PDS-1500-B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model PS-15-05-B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model PS-15-10-B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model PS‐1810‐B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model PWS‐15522‐B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model QAS‐1200‐B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model QAS‐1510‐B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model QAS-1512-B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model QAS-1514-B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model QAS-1545-B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model QAS‐1810‐B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model QAS‐450‐B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model SHD-SU-BG-B

Stack-On Biometric Safe, Model SS-16-MB-B

Faithfully,

Commissioner Richard L. Trumka Jr.

*The views expressed in this statement are solely the views of Commissioner Trumka and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission.

^[1] Statement of Commissioner Richard L. Trumka Jr. (October 29, 2023) (available at https://www.cpsc.gov/About-CPSC/Commissioner/Richard-Trumka/Statement/Malfunctioning-Gun-Safes-Sold-by-Cabela%E2%80%99s-Bass-Pro-and-Lowe%E2%80%99s-Allow-Anyone-to-Open-One-Child-Dead).

^[2] Statement of Commissioner Richard L. Trumka Jr. (February 22, 2024) (available at Biometric Gunsafes Malfunction, Allowing Anyone to Open; CPSC Widens Recall to 120,000 More Safes Sold by 4 Manufacturers at Walmart, Amazon, and Bass Pro Shops; Serious Risk of Death | CPSC.gov).

^[3] Statement of Commissioner Richard L. Trumka Jr. (June 6, 2024) (available at Unsecure Firearms: 133,000 Sports Afield and Sanctuary Biometric Gun Safes Recalled Because Anyone Can Open the Biometric Lock | CPSC.gov). 

^[4] CPSC Unilateral Warning (August 1, 2024) (available at CPSC Urges Consumers to Immediately Stop Using and Disable Biometric Feature on Owsoo and Cacagoo Biometric Gun Safes Due to Serious Injury Hazard and Risk of Death | CPSC.gov).