Bullets from a vending machine? New ammunition dispensers coming to Pueblo County grocer
With valid identification, shoppers at the Mesa LaGree's grocery store in Pueblo County will soon be able to purchase gun ammunition from a vending machine.
LaGree's Food Stores announced that it will be leasing space to ammunition dispenser American Rounds at all three of its Colorado stores. American Rounds, a company utilizing AI, card scanning and facial recognition technology, already dispenses 12-gauge and 9mm ammo at a handful of Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas grocery stores, according to USA Today.
"Each piece of software works together to verify the buyer’s age and that the person using the machine matches the identification scanned," according to a statement from LaGree's Food Stores President Orin LaGree. "We believe this addition enhances our store's offerings and provides our customers with a safe and efficient way to purchase ammunition."
Megan LaGree, Orin's wife and the company's director of operations, told the Chieftain in an email that the technology employed by American Rounds is a more secure alternative to the way ammunition is sold on the shelves of sporting goods and big box stores.
"It’s locked up inside the machine," Megan LaGree told the Chieftain. "American Rounds will be the only ones able to open the machines."
American Rounds customers must be at least 21 years old. Colorado law currently allows individuals ages 18 and older to purchase some firearms like shotguns and rifles, but prohibits the purchase of handguns until age 21.
Age restrictions for buying any firearm in Colorado were supposed to raise from 18 to 21 on Aug. 7, 2023, following the passage of a new state law. However, the new law was blocked by a federal district court judge last August after a lawsuit was filed by the nonprofit Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, which is the Colorado affiliate of the National Association for Gun Rights.
The minimum age requirement law remains on hold while the lawsuit is litigated.
While American Rounds kiosks require identification to purchases ammunition, Megan LaGree told the Chieftain that most individuals she has talked to have never had to use ID before purchasing ammo over the counter from certain sporting goods and big box stores.
American Rounds machines have yet to be installed at LaGree's Food Stores locations and an estimated time of arrival of a machine at the Mesa LaGree's in Pueblo County has not been announced. When it arrives, the machine will be placed near the front of the store.
LaGree's Food Stores is a family-owned chain of three grocery stores in Buena Vista, Poncha Springs and in Pueblo County. Mesa LaGree's, east of Pueblo city limits, has operated near the corner of 27th Lane and East U.S. Highway 50 since 2006.
"As a family we are pro-second amendment, but we are also for responsible gun ownership, we believe the technology in these machines will help to keep ammo out of the wrong hands," Orin LaGree said in the written statement.
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Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Why a Pueblo grocery store will be selling ammo from a vending machine
