Supermarkets in gun-friendly red states are now selling ammunition out of vending machines that use artificial intelligence and facial recognition technology to verify the buyers are of legal age.
The process is not quite as simple as paying for a soda or a candy bar, but American Rounds vending machines do adhere to the lone federal law requiring purchasers of ammunition to be at least of legal age, Gizmodo reported.
"Our smart retail automated ammo dispensers have built-in AI technology, card scanning capability and facial recognition software," American Rounds website reads, hailing "ammo sales like you've never seen before." "Each piece of software works together to verify the person using the machine matches the identification scanned."
There are at least six locations in Oklahoma and Alabama using the AI-powered vending machines to sell ammo, Cleveland.com reported.
A Tuscaloosa City Council meeting questioned "the legality of the machine," which was legal under zoning requirements, but the supermarket "removed the machine on July 3rd because of a lack of sales," according to the report.
Tuscaloosa, Alabama's Fresh Value COO Terry Stanley said he was "super excited" about being a location for America's "the first ammo kiosk."
"We're always looking for ways to give our customers another reason to come visit our stores," he says in a promotional video for American Rounds. "Anything we can do to help them make their shopping trips easier, based on the feedback we've gotten from customers today, they are so excited about us having this ammo kiosk."
The story will make national headlines as Democrats seek to retain power in the White House and the Senate, as gun control is a common election-year attack point against conservatives along with abortion and open voting processes.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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