Current Events > Ammo Vending Machine

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBLIS54Ej18

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/d/dd869f48.jpg

MONTGOMERY, Ala. A company has installed computerized vending machines to sell ammunition in grocery stores in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas, allowing patrons to pick up bullets along with a gallon of milk.

American Rounds, which is based in the Dallas-area, said their machines use an identification scanner and facial recognition software to verify the purchasers age and are as quick and easy to use as a computer tablet. But advocates worry that selling bullets out of vending machines will lead to more shootings in the U.S., where gun violence killed at least 33 people on Independence Day alone.

The company maintains the age-verification technology means that the transactions are as secure, or more secure, than online sales, which may not require the purchaser to submit proof of age, or at retail stores, where there is a risk of shoplifting.

Im very thankful for those who are taking the time to get to know us and not just making assumptions about what were about, said CEO Grant Magers, who lives in Richardson, according to his LinkedIn page. We are very pro-Second Amendment, but we are for responsible gun ownership, and we hope were improving the environment for the community.

There have been 15 mass killings involving a firearm so far in 2024, compared to 39 in 2023, according to a database maintained in a partnership of The Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.

Innovations that make ammunition sales more secure via facial recognition, age verification, and the tracking of serial sales are promising safety measures that belong in gun stores, not in the place where you buy your kids milk, said Nick Suplina, senior vice president for law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety. In a country awash in guns and ammo, where guns are the leading cause of deaths for kids, we dont need to further normalize the sale and promotion of these products.

Magers said grocery stores and others approached the Texas-based company, which began 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 got shocked when they thought about the idea of selling ammo at a grocery store, Magers said. But as we explained, how is that any different than Walmart?

Federal law requires a person to be 18 to buy shotgun and rifle ammunition and 21 to buy handgun ammunition. Magers said their machines require a purchaser to be at least 21.

The machine works by requiring a customer to scan their drivers license to validate that they are age 21 or older. The scan also checks that it is a valid license, he said. That is followed by a facial recognition scan to verify you are who you are saying you are as a consumer, he said.

At that point you can complete your transaction of your product and youre off and going, he said. The whole experience takes a minute and a half once you are familiar with the machine.

The vending machine is another method of sale, joining retail stores and online retailers. A March report by Everytown for Gun Safety found that several major online ammunition retailers did not appear to verify their customers ages, despite requirements.

Last year, an online retailer settled a lawsuit brought by families of those killed and injured in a 2018 Texas high school shooting. The families said the 17-year-old shooter was able to buy ammunition from the retailer who failed to verify his age.

Vending machines for bullets or other age-restricted materials is not an entirely new idea. Companies have developed similar technology to sell alcoholic beverages. A company has marketed automated kiosks to sell cannabis products in dispensaries in states where marijuana is legal.

A Pennsylvania police officer created a company about 12 years ago that places bullet-vending machines in private gun clubs and ranges as a convenience for patrons. Those machines do not have the age verification mechanism but are only placed in locations with an age requirement to enter, Master Ammo owner Sam Piccinini said.

Piccinini spoke with a company years ago about incorporating the artificial intelligence technology to verify a purchasers age and identity, but at the time it was cost-prohibitive, he said. For American Rounds, one machine had to be removed from a site in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, because of disappointing sales, Magers said.

Magers said much of the early interest for the machines has been in rural communities where there may be few retailers that sell ammunition. The American Rounds machines are in Super C Mart and Fresh Value grocery stores in small cities, including Pell City, Alabama, which has a population over 13,600, and Noble, Oklahoma, where nearly 7,600 people live.

Someone in that community might have to drive an hour or an hour and a half to get supplied if they want to go hunting, for instance, Margers said. Our grocery stores, they wanted to be able to offer their customer another category that they felt like would be popular.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/texas/2024/07/10/chips-chocolate-and-ammunition-at-a-vending-machine-near-some/

It leads to more shootings because... it's in a vending machine? Makes no sense.

I don't really think it will lead to more shootings, but I absolutely think its tacky and in a place it doesn't belong. I wouldn't go to a grocery store with an ammo vending machine under any circumstances.

We officially live in a video game now.

only if it says, welcome to the circus of values when you walk up

Two machines in Alabama: Manager of the store thinks it's a joke and double-checks the legality, then they remove it later because nobody is buying.

Four machines in Oklahoma: No story.

Did I wake up in Bizarro World today?

They may as well just take these out now. Nobody will buy them, they will be worried it's a government trick to trap them. My wife's cousin works for a gun repair company and is 100% pro gun and he even says there's people who shouldn't be allowed to own guns after some of the people he deals with on a daily basis who are complete lunatics. One guy he was speaking to on the phone doesn't have the internet or a cellphone and so had to call in his repair order and when her cousin asked him for his credit card number and address, he refused to give it to him because "why does he need that?". He went back and forth asking the guy what he wants him to do then in order to actually ship something to him if he refuses to provide any information.

Shit has more checks than to buy a gun lol

Are bullets on your grocery list? Ammo vending machines debut in grocery stores

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/07/10/12-gauge-ammo-vending-machines-debut-in-grocery-stores/74358419007/

Milk, eggs and now bullets for sale in handful of US grocery stores with ammo vending machines

https://apnews.com/article/ammunition-vending-machines-ddb2e507213cda8ef46da0d8146253ae

Billyionaire posted...

It leads to more shootings because... it's in a vending machine? Makes no sense.

How does ammo being more accessible = more people using it not seem like 1+1 = 2

Can't wait until those get broken into regularly

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/84ed9706.jpg

A fantastic day for capitalism!

Nice of them to put all the ammo in one massive container for me to load into my pickup truck with the confederate flag plastered over the back window

Noname13 posted...

only if it says, welcome to the circus of values when you walk up

Or anything from the Borderlands ammo vending machines