CPSC Urges Consumers to Immediately Stop Using Biometric Feature on Stack-On Biometric Gun Safes; Severe Injury Reported; Risk of Death

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is warning consumers about the risk of serious injury or death from approximately 183,000 Stack-On biometric gun safes, pistol vaults, and lock boxes, distributed by Alpha Guardian and Stack-On.

CPSC evaluated these safes and found that the biometric programming feature can fail without consumers realizing that the safe’s contents, including firearms, can be accessed by unauthorized users, including children. 

CPSC urges consumers who own affected safes to:

• Remove the batteries that power the biometric feature; 
• Disable the biometric feature by puncturing the biometric reader with a screwdriver; and 
• Only use the keys to lock and access contents from the safe. 

The safes have been distributed since January 2015. Alpha Guardian, which distributed the safes from 2017 through 2020, filed for bankruptcy in August 2020. Stack-On Products Co. currently owns the Stack-On assets and distributed approximately 2,100 safes between August 2020 and August 2023.

Stack-On Products Co. has refused to agree to an acceptable recall. 

Consumers have reported three incidents in which Stack-On biometric gun safes were accessed with unpaired fingerprints, including by children. In one incident, a 5-year-old child from Michigan required surgery after he was injured by a self-inflicted gunshot after using the biometric feature to access a firearm from a Stack-On safe. 

The products are portable lock boxes, personal safes, pistol vaults, and gun safes with the brand name Stack-On. The model number can be found on the safe and on the packaging. The safes have been sold since January 2015 for between $49 and $1,700 at various retailers including Walmart, Sam’s Club, Academy Sports and Outdoors, Army and Air Force Exchange (AAFES), Amazon, Gander Mountain, Cabela’s/Bass Pro Shops, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Scheels, and others nationwide. The safes have also been found for sale on secondhand sites, such as eBay.com.

At least some of the models are marked “Made in China.” 

CPSC urges consumers not to buy or resell the affected biometric safes and report any incidents with these safes at www.SaferProducts.gov. 

A list of affected models, including product names and UPC codes where applicable, is included below:

Under section 6(b) of the Consumer Product Safety Act, the CPSC is required to include with this press release any comments from the manufacturer or a summary thereof. The company objects to this press release.

Consumers have reported three incidents in which Stack-On biometric gun safes were accessed with unpaired fingerprints, including by children. In one incident, a 5-year-old child from Michigan required surgery after he was injured by a self-inflicted gunshot after using the biometric feature to access a firearm from a Stack-On safe.