Texas-based WFAA reported Friday that an ammunition company has installed vending machines in three states with plans to expand to more states in the future.
American Round has installed ammunition vending machines in six grocery stores in Oklahoma, Texas and Alabama. according to Submitted to WFAA, the company's CEO, Grant Magers, said that more than 200 stores across nine states have now requested the vending machines be installed.
“We have the safest and most secure method of selling ammunition on the market today,” Magers told WFAA. (RELATED: Whistleblower alleges ATF is drafting rules that could effectively ban private gun sales)
Kip Tyner, a city clerk for Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is skeptical of vending machines. tell He worries that the machines could put bullets “into the hands of less responsible people,” according to CNN.
Magers told WFAA that traditional gun stores and online marketplaces don't do a good job of verifying customers' ages, unlike his machine. “Any minor can go to a website, click 'I'm 21,' take their parent's credit card and order 1,000 rounds of ammunition to be sent to their home,” he said.
According to CNN, people who want to buy ammunition from American Round vending machines must insert their ID into the machine and have their face scanned to verify their identity.
Ammunition on display at a gun shop (Photo by ZAID AL-OBEIDI/AFP via Getty Images)
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which regulates the sale of firearms and ammunition, approved the machine, telling CNN that “a federal license is not required to sell ammunition. However, commercial sales of ammunition must comply with state and applicable federal laws.”
The Oklahoma Attorney General's Office confirmed to CNN that the vending machines appear to be legal. They dispense ammunition for rifles, shotguns and handguns, and offer a variety of calibers.
According to CNN, states American Rounds is considering expanding into include California, Florida and Hawaii. The company plans to expand into Colorado in the coming weeks and install one more machine in Texas.
Hawaii has recently taken a stance against gun rights, with its Supreme Court ruling in February that the Second Amendment runs counter to the “spirit of aloha,” while California introduced a law this year banning the possession of firearms in most public places.
American Rounds did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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