Vending machines that sell ammunition will soon be available out west, beginning with Colorado, according to the company that distributes them.
The Dallas-based American Rounds company installes its first new ammo vending machine at a Colordao grocery store in Buena Visa, southwest of Denver, last week, and is preparing to expand to other states out West, including California, reported KABC-7 in Los Angeles.
Rounds introduced its vending machines earlier last month at eight stores, with a number in Texas, Alabama and Oklahoma.
The company has contracts for machines at about 200 locations in 40 states, a spokesperson told KKCO in Grand Junction, Colorado.
The machines use identification scanners and facial recognition software to confirm the purchaser's age, and are "quick and easy" to use, the company boasted.
Managers claim their age-verification technology offers greater security than online sales or retail stores, which may not always verify age and are susceptible to shoplifting.
Federal law requires buyers to be 18 for shotgun and rifle ammunition, and 21 for handgun ammunition. The American Rounds require a minimum age of 21 for all ammunition purchases, according to the company.
The ammo vending machines require people to scan their driver's license to confirm they are at least 21 and that the license is valid. They then uses facial recognition to verify the buyer's identity, according to ABC 7.
Gun control advocates are raising concerns about the easy purchase of bullets via vending machines that could trigger even shootings in the US.
American Rounds CEO Grant Magers countered in an interview with KKCO: "There has been some misconception that we're just going to place these everywhere that a vending machine-style product would go. That's not the case at all."
But the machines will be easy to use, he bragged.
"The whole experience takes a minute and a half once you are familiar with the machine," Magers said.
