Ammunition vending machines installed in grocery stores

Large, touch-screen machines that dispense pistol and rifle bullets are now available in American grocery stores. They verify the buyer’s identity and age with facial recognition and ID.

There are innovations that we don’t know whether to be happy about or not. Americans and firearms, we know that it’s a long story and now in some states (Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas), you can now buy bullets from vending machines installed in grocery stores. The object is called an Automated Ammo Retail Machine (AARM), for automatic ammunition dispenser. In terms of form, it’s less like a classic drinks dispenser than these large tablets for ordering in a fast-food chain. A large touch screen, therefore, to place your order, it’s efficient. Everything happens in less than two minutes on the presentation video.

The machine verifies your identity and therefore your age (minimum age 21 in the United States) by scanning your driver’s license and using facial recognition software. The machine offers bullets for rifles and pistols. Its weight: 900 kilos. The dispenser is always inside the grocery store and is refilled approximately every two weeks. The first was installed in Pell City, Alabama in November 2023. There are now just under ten of them.

It’s a company called American Rounds, which is in charge of these distributors. Its boss, Grant Magers, describes the company as “very pro-second amendment“, the one that authorizes the carrying of weapons. But he insists, American Rounds wants responsible gun owners and Grant Magers believes that these distributors are safer than buying ammunition online and since you can already find them at Walmart (a large hypermarket chain), why not in small grocery stores? Especially since, for the moment, the AARMs have been installed in rural areas where residents often have to drive at least an hour to buy ammunition.

American Rounds has reportedly already received 200 requests, across nine states, for new dispensers. The AP reports that a Pennsylvania police officer had a similar idea more than a decade ago, but with a dispenser installed at a shooting range, where ID is checked upon entry. At the time, artificial intelligence was too expensive to hope that the dispenser itself would be able to scan an ID.

It’s not just fans of the idea, of course. A member of Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization that advocates for better gun control, says that this innovation and the use of facial recognition are very good ideas. On the other hand, an ammunition dispenser placed in the same store where you buy milk for your children seems much less relevant to him. It is, he says, a matter of “standardization“while the United States is the only country in the world with more firearms than people. About 50% of Americans have at least one weapon in their home. Another association finds it damaging that there is no human being to take a look at the background of the person buying the ammunition and spot a possible problem.