MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A company has installed computerized vending machines to sell ammunition at grocery stores in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas, allowing customers to pick up the bullets along with a gallon of milk.
American Rounds said its machines use an ID scanner and facial recognition software to verify the buyer’s age and are as “quick and easy” to use as a tablet computer. But advocates worry that selling bullets from vending machines will lead to more shootings in the US, where gun violence has killed at least 33 people. only on Independence Day.
The company maintains age verification technology that means transactions are as secure, or more secure, than online sales, which may not require the buyer to provide proof of age, or in retail stores, where there is a risk of theft.
“I’m so grateful for those who are taking the time to get to know us and not just make assumptions about what we’re doing,” said CEO Grant Magers. “We’re very pro-Second Amendment, but we’re for responsible gun ownership and hopefully we’re improving the environment for the community.”
There have been 15 mass shootings so far in 2024, compared to 39 in 2023. according to a database is held in a partnership of the Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.
“Innovations that make ammunition sales safer through facial recognition, age verification and serial sales tracking are promising security measures that belong in gun stores, not where you buy your kids’ milk,” said Nick Suplina, senior vice president. on law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety. “In a country filled with guns and ammunition, where guns are the leading cause of death for children, we do not need to further normalize the sale and promotion of these products.”
Magers said grocery stores and others approached the Texas-based company, which started in 2023, about the idea of selling ammunition through automated technology. The company has one machine in Alabama, four in Oklahoma and one in Texas, with plans for another in Texas and one in Colorado in the coming weeks, he said.
“People I think were shocked when they thought about the idea of selling ammunition in a grocery store,” Magers said. “But as we explained, how is this different from Walmart?”
Federal law requires a person to be 18 years old to purchase ammunition for shotguns and rifles and 21 to purchase ammunition for firearms. Magers said their cars require a buyer to be at least 21.
The machine works by requiring a customer to scan their driver’s license to prove they are 21 or older. The scan also checks if it’s a valid license, he said. That’s followed by a facial recognition scan to verify “you are who you say you are as a consumer,” he said.
“At that point you can complete your transaction of your product and you’re leaving,” he said. “The whole experience takes a minute and a half once you get to know the car.”
The vending machine is another sales method, joining retail stores and online retailers. A March report from Everytown for Gun Safety found that some major online ammunition retailers did not appear to verify the age of their customers, despite requests.
Last year, an online retailer settled a lawsuit brought by the families of the killed and wounded in a The 2018 Texas high school shooting. The families said the 17-year-old shooter was able to purchase ammunition from the vendor who failed to verify his age.
Vending machines for bullets or other age-restricted material is not an entirely new idea. Companies have developed similar technologies to sell alcoholic beverages. A company has marketed automated kiosks to sell cannabis products at dispensaries in states where marijuana is legal.
A police officer in Pennsylvania started a company about 12 years ago that places bullet vending machines at private gun clubs and ranges as a convenience to customers. These machines do not have an age verification mechanism, but are only placed in places with an age requirement to enter, said Master Ammunition owner Sam Piccinini.
Piccinini talked to a company years ago about incorporating artificial intelligence technology to verify a buyer’s age and identity, but at the time it was cost-prohibitive, he said. For American Rounds, one car had to be removed from a location in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, due to disappointing sales, Magers said.
Magers said most of the early interest in the machines has been in rural communities where there may be few retailers selling ammunition. American Rounds machines are in Super C Mart and Fresh Value grocery stores in small towns, including Pell City, Alabama, which has a population of over 13,600, and Noble, Oklahoma, which has about 7,600 people.
“Somebody in that community might have to travel an hour or an hour and a half to get supplies if they want to go hunting, for example,” Margers said. “Our grocery stores, they wanted to be able to offer their customer another category that they thought would be popular.”