Bullet vending machine uses IDScan.net face biometrics for age verification

If you thought age verification measures for pornography were controversial, American Rounds would like you to hold its beer. The company has caused a stir with its automated vending machines for ammunition, which it places in grocery stores to make ammo more available to the public.

American Rounds kiosks offer ammunition for rifles, handguns and shotguns, for what it calls “safe, affordable and available ammunition sales.” The company argues that its ammo kiosks are safer than standard gun sales practices, because ammunition is locked inside the machine and can only be accessed once AI-assisted age verification has been performed via face biometrics matched against a scanned government identity card to prove a customer is over 21.

In a promotional video, CEO Grant Magers says that, “with our machines, we have a very secure automated retail machine able to age-verify. We scan a driver’s license and take 360 facial recognition for the purchase and match it to the ID.”

Posts on LinkedIn connect the company to Thru Solutions LLC, an Idaho-based company that provides automated retail systems, and to Wyoming firm Verified Vending, which produces the AmmoBox – the vending machine model on which American Rounds’ are based. AmmoBox uses real-time authentication and identity verification from IDScan.net. 

Magers says American Rounds is aiming to place its 24-7 automated ammo machines in areas where hunting is popular. Currently, it has kiosks installed in five grocery stores in Alabama and Oklahoma, and says requests for installation came from the stores, who are seeking new ways to add value to the customer experience.

A sixth kiosk, which was operating at a Fresh Value store in Tuscaloosa, AL, was removed on July 3. According to Tuscaloosa Thread, city councilors cite a deluge of complaints from constituents as a driving reason for the removal of the biometric ammo kiosk, while representatives from Fresh Value say the machine has processed just four sales since November.

Regardless, the machines are legal and have been vetted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Magers says the company has plans to expand to Texas and Louisiana.

Last month, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued the first-ever Surgeon General’s Advisory on Firearm Violence, declaring gun violence a national public health crisis.

Article Topics

age verification  |  biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  document verification  |  face biometrics  |  IDScan.net  |  retail biometrics  |  vending machine