It’s no secret that Americans love guns. Not only do nearly half of Americans say they live in a household that owns a gun, but the United States beats every other country on the planet when it comes to gun density (the country with the second highest gun density is Yemen, and it’s not even close). The United States is actually the only country with more guns than people. With all this in mind, it’s no surprise that in some states you can now walk into a grocery store and buy bullets from a vending machine, just like you order candy or soda.
Well, sort of. Not completely. American Rounds, the vending machine company behind the new trend, said it uses artificial intelligence and facial recognition technology to verify that buyers are of legal age to buy bullets. Therefore, this is a slightly more rigorous process than buying a Twix.
There are surprisingly few regulations regarding ammunition purchases in the United States, but some of them are based on age. Federal law states that you must be at least 18 years old to purchase ammunition for long guns, such as rifles and shotguns, and you must be at least 21 years old if you want to purchase handgun ammunition. The authentication mechanism purportedly verifies the age of the person purchasing the ammunition.
“Our smart retail automated ammunition dispensers have built-in artificial intelligence technology, card scanning capabilities and facial recognition software,” the company’s website states. “Each piece of software works together to verify that the person using the machine matches the identity scanned. “
Cleveland.com originally reported the proliferation of American Rounds machines, writing that the machines are now available at six locations in Oklahoma and Alabama. On Friday, local news outlets in Alabama reported that a store in Tuscaloosa removed one of the machines after “questions were raised about the legality of the machine” at a city council meeting. The city’s legal department acknowledged that the machines are legal if they meet appropriate zoning requirements. The store said it “removed the machine on July 3 due to insufficient sales,” the store reported.
Gizmodo reached out to American Rounds to learn more about its operations and will update this story if we hear back.
