Bullet Vending Machines Are Spreading Throughout the Country

Americans be intimate accelerator . Not only doroughly 40 percent of Americanssay they live in a family with guns , but the U.S. beats out every other area on Earth when it amount to the proportion of guns to hoi polloi ( the 2nd most gun - dense countryis Yemen , and it ’s not even skinny ) . Indeed , the U.S. is actually the only country in the populace thathas more firearm than the great unwashed . Congratulations , everybody . contribute all that , it ’s really not surprising that , in some states , you’re able to now walk into a grocery storage and buy ammo from a vending motorcar as if you were buying a candy Browning automatic rifle or a Red Bull .

Well , sorta . Not quite . The vending motorcar society behind this new course , American Rounds , say it uses artificial intelligence and facial recognition technologies to verify that buyers are of sound eld to corrupt bullets . So it ’s a slightly more rigorous process than buying a Twix .

“ As a company our squad are supporter of law abiding responsible gun ownership . We conceive in the second amendment and that by providing a secure and inviolable method to sell ammo is needed in the market , ” say American Rounds CEO Grant Magers in an electronic mail , when pass on for comment by Gizmodo .

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Magers , who calls his machine Automated Ammo Retail Machine , or AARMs , said that his company is presently active in eight placement , including in multiple stores in Alabama , Oklahoma , Texas , and Colorado . However , he added that the company was presently seeing immense growth , and had “ over 200 memory board request for AARM units covering approximately 9 states currently , ” a issue he say is “ growing day by day . ”

There are shockingly few regulations around ammo purchases in the U.S. , but some ofthe few that exist are age - base . Union law says you have to be at least 18 years erstwhile to corrupt ammunition for long hitman , like rifles and shotguns , and if you desire to buy bullets for side arm , you have to be at least 21 . As such , American Rounds has make an identity verification mechanism for its bullet vending motorcar that can supposedly verify how honest-to-goodness the individual buying the ammunition is .

“ Our impertinent retail automate ammo dispensers have work up - in AI technology , bill scanning capability and facial recognition computer software , ” the company’swebsite State . “ Each piece of software package works together to aver the person using the machine matches the designation scan . ”

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Magers tell Gizmodo that his company ’s model was really safer than the existing ammunition sale model . “ Currently ammunition is sell off the shelf or online . These environments lead to inadvertent sales to underaged purchasers and or ( in the case of retail stores ) a high larceny rate . What we loved about this concept is the AARM unit use state of the art ID scanner combine with facial recognition before a transaction can be made , ” Magers said in an email .

Magers enjoin that this fashion model “ insure that the individual is of sound eld and that they are who they represent themselves to be . The machine themselves press up to 2000lbs and are well secured from theft . We only place them inside store and not outside ( i.e. , Redbox ) . ” Magers tote up that the company has plans to “ flourish our product offering at the machines ” but could n’t disclose the plans as they are still develop .

On July 5 , a local news outlet in Alabamareportedthat a shop in Tuscaloosa had off one of the machines after “ the legality of the simple machine was questioned ” at a city council meeting . The city ’s legal section admit the machines were legal if they met right zoning requirements . The store has said that it “ hit the car on July 3rd because of a lack of sale , ” the outlet reported .

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