The growing popularity of self-serve ammunition machines that function like ATMs has raised concerns among gun opponents, with Chris Brown, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, putting it bluntly: “We need to remove these machines from grocery stores, and we need to do it now.”
Nick Saprina, senior vice president of Everytown for Gun Safety, said these vending machines “should not be located in places where people are buying milk for their children.”
High demand
Brown and Saprina are banking on a counter-tide. Demand for American Rounds' vending machines is growing faster than the company's ability to manufacture and install them, said Grant Magers, CEO of American Rounds. Magers is seeking additional funding to expand his Dallas-based operation, which currently employs just 10 people.
“When I researched the market, I wanted to create a safer environment for ammunition while still respecting the integrity of the 2A community,” Magers said. So far, he has installed just under two dozen machines, most of them in rural areas serving hunters and those without easy access to shooting equipment.
The machines are massive — weighing over 2,000 pounds — and are intended for indoor use only. They use cutting-edge facial recognition technology to verify that buyers are over 21 and that the driver's license they use for identification is legitimate. Other than that, they're as easy to operate, convenient, and secure as an ATM or Coca-Cola vending machine.
Standard opposition
But Chethan Satya, director of Northwell Health's Center for Gun Violence Prevention, said easier access to ammunition only increases the likelihood of increased gun violence in the area.
If access to ammunition increases and it becomes that much easier to go to your local store and buy it, it stands to reason that we will see an increase in gun injuries and deaths, whether that be suicides, mass shootings in public places, unintentional injuries, or potentially certain types of homicide.
Giffords, a leading voice in the anti-gun control movement, took great pains to explain all the reasons why these machines are “dangerous” and “annoying.” She began by scolding those who support the idea that buying ammunition should be easy and convenient, and titled her response, “We Shouldn't Have Unlimited Ammo Available in Vending Machines.” Author Spencer Myers did his best to explain why:
• The increase in these machines is a “worrying trend.”
• Their presence “raises significant concerns”
• “It's incredibly easy to use and misuse.”
• Increased use of these machines “creates new risks and vulnerabilities in terms of who has access to ammunition.”
• “Failure to identify whether a purchaser may be experiencing a mental health emergency or similar crisis.”
• “It is not possible to determine whether the purchaser is intoxicated.”
All of this means that “at-risk individuals will have easier access to the ammunition they need to commit acts of gun violence against themselves or others that would otherwise be easily prevented.”
Straw man argument
There's another “danger”: counterfeit purchases of ammunition by people who license the technology but then provide it to people who can't license it. “The practice is greatly undermined by how easy it is to make counterfeit purchases from unmanned vending machines,” Myers said.
His solution echoes that of his fellow anti-gun activists: “Unmanned ammo vending machines have no place in our communities,” he adds.
Regardless of the security risks or benefits, the local grocery store is not the place to install an automatic ammunition dispenser.
Anyone should not be able to buy an unlimited number of bullets as easily as buying a can of soda, but with little human interaction.
Placing ammunition in stores next to “impulse buy” items like gum, chips and candy will only increase the normalization of weapons in public places and ultimately make our communities less safe….
It’s risky to have it in a location that’s accessible 24 hours a day, or where buyers can access and use it without interacting with a real person.
You shouldn't be able to walk into a store and buy an unlimited amount of assault weapon ammunition, but right now, anyone with ID can walk up to one of these machines and buy all the bullets it holds.
“Solution”
Myers is finally pushing for an expected solution to gun violence that is likely fueled by easy access to ammunition: background checks.
Ultimately, the most effective solution to prevent the illegal acquisition of ammunition would be to require background checks for all ammunition sales. But even in the absence of such changes, there are still many steps retailers can take to sell ammunition more safely and responsibly.
The automated ammunition dispensers currently installed in grocery stores are accessible 24 hours a day and have several security vulnerabilities that fall far short of keeping our communities safe, and until these vulnerabilities are addressed, these machines should not be in our communities.
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