Get candy and bullets for your gun: ammo vending machines arrive at US grocery stores

Americans in some towns are now able to purchase ammo next to their milk and eggs. A company has installed ammunition vending machines in grocery stores in three states.

According to AP News, American Rounds has placed its machines in Super C Mart and Fresh Value grocery stores in Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The vending machines verify the purchaser's identity and age using technological features. They scan their driving license and use facial recognition technology to match the face to the document.

Photo: Instagram / American Rounds

Still, many gun safety advocates fear that putting such machines in grocery stores will normalize purchasing ammo in family places and, in return, increase gun violence.

The US is officially under an epidemic of gun violence since the country's Surgeon General declared it a public health crisis this year.

However, the company behind the vending machines argues that the automatic features that check the buyer's age and identity will increase safety and responsible ownership.

"We are very pro-Second Amendment, but we are for responsible gun ownership, and we hope we're improving the environment for the community," the CEO, Grant Magers, told AP News.

Photo: Instagram / American Rounds

The news agency said the company has one machine in Alabama, another in Texas, and four in Oklahoma. In the coming weeks, it plans to place its first one in Colorado and a new one in Texas.

Magers also told AP News that the machines require the buyer to be over 21 years old, despite Federal laws requiring buyers to be 18 years or older to acquire ammo.

AP News explained that these are not the first ammo vending machines. Another company makes automated vendors without age-checking technology. It places them only inside shooting ranges.

Nick Suplina, senior vice president for law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety, told the news agency that the automatic security features are fine. Still, the placement of the machines is not.

"Innovations that make ammunition sales more secure are promising safety measures that belong in gun stores, not in the place where you buy your kid's milk," Suplina said.

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