It has been determined that the battery cap on a SIG Romeo optical sight is not child proof, and a little kid could remove the battery and swallow it. I kid you not. Read it here.
Of course, no child has yet swallowed such a battery after removing it from the gunsight. But I can’t be the only one to notice that…
For this to happen, this would require that some idiot left an unattended firearm with a Romeo on it, where an unsupervised child could play with the gun!
Is it me, or is there a failure in critical thinking here somewhere?
We live in a litigious society where even the remote possibility of something happening is considered reason enough for a recall. It matters not that, with due care, it should not happen. It matters not that the odds are on the order of one-in-a-million. Just the fact that it COULD HAPPEN is grounds enough.
In a left-wing controlled society, adults are presumed to be as incompetent as children and in need of “Big Brother” Government to take care of them. That is how they justify the “Nanny State” and the associated loss of privacy and individual freedom. Plus, anything to inconvenience gun-owners is looked upon favorably. So, there is a political dimension to this kind of stuff as well.
It is the reason that many products are so “child-proof” that they are almost “adult-proof” as well. We have plenty of lawyers that need employment and such litigation is steady work! 🙂
One trick of the managerial state to make them seem indespensible is impossibly stupid shit like this.
Well, it _could_ happen…. which of course you can’t argue against because, yes it could. If one was so negligent, then yes, technically it could happen, assuming the kid didn’t blow his hand off first.
Then down the road they point to all the safety-minded actions they’ve taken to protect you from yourself. Same argument for building permits on sheds. It _could_ fall down and kill you, the person that built it, so we’re going to make you pay all sorts of taxes and fee’s to support this useless government eater who makes your life hard.
That’s the managerial class, and they think they’re needed.
Yes.
Sounds like another anti-gun bureaucrat has found a way to punish the firearms industry.
In a related note: All coinage in the United States is being recalled due to a swallowing hazard. Please call the US Mint for instructions on sending in your pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters for the required modifications. A 4 inch long rod will be brazed onto each coin to prevent a child from cramming it down their pie-hole. The program cost is estimated to be 5 trillion dollars. “We know this may be inconvenient” said US CPPSC spokesman Walton Fitzroy-Symmes “but if it saves one child it will be worth it.”
Perfect.
It’s certainly one of the oddest recalls in my memory.
I could see issuing an advisory and a voluntary replacement program, but an actual honest to goodness recall?
It’s not a bureaucratic rule, it’s a federal law. Reese’s Law, passed in 2022, mandates safety standards for devices that use coin batteries: the battery compartments must require two hands and/or a tool to open. I don’t believe there are exceptions for devices intended for adults only.
Since the law dates to 2022 (and given the “speed of Congress”, the bill was probably filed and in discussion for a full year beforehand), and the Sig Romeo was released in 2023, the designers should have known and designed around it. Therefore, I place the responsibility squarely on Sig Sauer for this one.
Hanlon’s Razor: “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.” This isn’t some malicious anti-gun bureaucrat wanting to make trouble for a gun company; it’s a simple failure of the product designers.
Not only that but the battery causes cancer in CA. I’m sure the sight and the gun do too. I saw one of those stickers on a full-size pickup but I couldn’t figure out how to eat it.
I have always treasured a remark by Carroll Edgar, professor of Mechanical Engineering after a distinguished career in industry: “It’s easy to make something fool proof. It’s impossible to make something damn fool proof.”
I suppose the modern equivalent would be something along the lines of: “There is no device that some alarmist cannot find some aspect of it to be a danger to someone/something.”
OK, reading the the recall notice, the new battery cap will include a warning about the danger of a child swallowing the battery. Problem solved—–so far as the paper shufflers are concerned. There may be some slight alteration to the cap. In the meantime, can someone lend me a small child to open my new medications?
We are now a couple of generations in with respect to “consumer protection.” What used to be a sort of “natural selection” has now demonstrably lowered the combined national IQ.
Mas,
Jim Shepherd at Shooting Wire covered the SIG Romeo recall here: https://www.shootingwire.com/features/256de6a0-5bbf-4be7-a85f-19c69bb00b90
According to Jim, “The CPSC is requiring the recall for two reasons — neither of which are directly related to the operation of the optic.
Seems the included battery is not in child-resistant packaging. That’s required under Reese’s Law, a 2022 law named for an 18-month old child (Reese Hamsmith) who died after ingesting a button cell battery.
The law says “Individually packaged button/coin cell batteries (sold individually or packaged separately with a product using these batteries) must comply with 16 CFR 1700.15 poison prevention standards for child resistant packaging.”
If you’re wondering why you have to fight to open button batteries included with optics and other similarly powered products, now you have your answer. The child resistant packaging isn’t an option -even if the battery’s included inside another package.
Additionally, the CPSC says, SIG failed to meet the warning label requirements for the batteries on the optic itself. A warning label is required to be on the optic, warning users that the product contains a button cell battery. You can check the image below to see how SIG has been forced to remedy the issue.
It’s important to note that despite the recall, there have been no reported injuries.”
Per the CPSC recall alert, https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025/SIG-SAUER-Recalls-ROMEO5-Red-Dot-Firearm-Sights-Due-to-Ingestion-Hazard-Violations-of-Reeses-Law-Federal-Safety-Regulations-for-Consumer-Products-with-Button-Cell-Batteries-and-Child-Resistant-Button-Cell-Battery-Packaging
“Remedy:
Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled firearm sights and contact SIG SAUER for instructions on how to submit a picture of the serial number to receive a free recall kit, which includes a new cap with the required labeling and an updated instruction manual. Consumers will be provided with instructions on how to locate the serial number. ”
So, all the “recall” really is about is alerting SIG Romeo owners to check the serial number on their optic, and if it falls into the affected range, to contact SIG Sauer in order to receive a new battery cap and instruction manual that meet CPSC guidelines for labeling – NOT to send their optics back to SIG…
When I first saw the headline I thought it was for an article in The Onion.
Well I SUPPOSE if the sight were left on a table, drawer, etc without a firearm …
Children have swallowed similar batteries. The batteries, if you’ve purchased any lately come with a bitter tasting agent to deter swallowing them. The batteries are quite poisonous.
https://www.kgun9.com/the-morning-blend/heres-what-to-do-if-your-child-swallows-a-coin-battery
Wonder how soon they will start
Recalling hearing aids many of us oldies wear and leave laying around at times.
Using this logic, I’m expecting a recall on the TWO batteries under the hood of my Ford F250. I mean, some really big unicorn could get inside the locked cab, release the hood latch, release the secondary latch, get into my bed-mounted tool box, get my tools out, remove one or both of the batteries and try to eat them, thus choking to death. This scenario must keep the Unicorn Protection League and Legal Fund awake at night.
This begs for the creation of a video parody:
Someone with PhotoShop video skills should generate a (fake) video of a toddler doing a mag dump with an AR and THEN discovering and opening the “deadly” battery compartment of the Romeo 5 red dot sight. Immediately, of course, a responsible adult swoops into the frame and removes the coin battery from the toddler’s hand as he moves it toward his mouth. In a final scene, to complete the reductio ad absurdum the adult would offer a bowl of peanut M&Ms to distract the toddler who cried when the battery was taken away.
This BS may be coming to an end after Elon gets thru with all the dead weight in the government. I really, really hope so. In any case, like Forest said, “You can’t fix, Stupid.” As for the money recall, why not just drill a hole in the coins so the kids can still breath? Then they could wait until the doc’s pryed the coin out. Good weight reduction program (those who live on fast food need it).