Americans love guns. About 40 percent of Americans Some say they live in homes with guns, but the United States has a better gun-to-population ratio than any other country on Earth (it has the second-highest gun density). Yemen is nothing like that.In fact, America is the only country in the world that There are more guns than peopleCongratulations, everyone. With all that in mind, it’s no surprise that some states now allow you to go into a grocery store and buy ammunition from a vending machine, just like you would buy a candy bar or a Red Bull.
Well, maybe. But maybe not. American Rounds, the vending machine company behind this new trend, says it uses artificial intelligence and facial recognition technology to verify that buyers are of legal age to buy bullets — which means it’s a slightly more rigorous process than buying a Twix.
“As a company, our team supports law-abiding, responsible gun ownership. We believe in the Second Amendment and see a need in the marketplace to provide a safe way to sell ammunition,” American Round CEO Grant Magers said in an email in response to Gizmodo’s request for comment.
Magers, who calls his machines the Automated Ammunition Retail Machine (AARM), said he currently operates out of eight locations, including multiple stores in Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado, but he added that the company is now experiencing significant growth, with “over 200 stores currently ordering AARM units, covering approximately nine states,” and that number is “growing every day.”
The United States has surprisingly few regulations regarding ammunition purchases. The few that exist are age-basedFederal law requires that people must be 18 years of age to buy ammunition for long guns such as rifles and shotguns, and 21 years of age to buy bullets for handguns, so American Round has implemented identity verification on its bullet vending machines to verify the age of people buying ammunition.
“Our smart retail automated ammunition dispensers are embedded with AI technology, card scanning capabilities and facial recognition software,” the company said. The website has“The software works together to verify that the person using the machine matches the scanned identification.”
Magers told Gizmodo that their model is safer than existing ammunition sales models. “Currently, ammunition is sold in stores or online, an environment where there is a high rate of unintentional sales to minors and (in the case of retail stores) theft. What’s great about this concept is that the AARM units use a combination of state-of-the-art ID scanners and facial recognition prior to the transaction,” Magers said in an email.
Magers said the model “ensures that individuals are of legal age and who they say they are. The machines themselves can weigh up to 2,000 pounds and are heavily secured against theft. The machines are only located in stores, not outside stores (such as Redbox).” Magers added that the company has plans to “expand our product offerings on the machines,” but couldn’t reveal those plans because they’re still in development.
On July 5, local news media in Alabama report A Tuscaloosa store reportedly removed one of the machines after a city council meeting “called into question the legality of the machine.” The city’s law department found the machine was legal as long as it met the proper zoning requirements. The store “removed the machine on July 3 due to poor sales,” the report said.
