A dozen eggs and a dozen bullets: Ammunition hits US grocery stores

If there is one thing that the four main candidates in the U.S. elections in November — Republicans Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, and Democrats Kamala Harris and Tim Walz — had in common, it was that they all owned guns. Trump, who was ultimately the winner of the election, was convicted in a lower court for falsifying documents. His firearm license was recently revoked, but he still keeps a small arsenal in his various mansions, which no one seems willing to seize. The president-elect is a member of the National Rifle Association. Harris, for her part, confirmed during the campaign that she owns a gun, and would not hesitate to use it if someone entered her house.

Nothing strange, in short, in a country where one-third of adults own firearms, and guns are present in 44% of households. Since last July, die-hard enthusiasts of rifles, shotguns, and revolvers have had a new way to stock up on ammunition — state-of-the-art vending machines located, unbelievably, in grocery stores. For now, these vending machines are available in the states of Oklahoma, Alabama and Texas.

The Associated Press was among the first to report on these vending machines, compact metal boxes standing about 1.5 meters tall, which were spotted at a grocery store on the outskirts of Montgomery, Alabama. Each machine prominently features the name and logo of its manufacturer and distributor, American Rounds, along with straightforward instructions: “1. Tap 2. Choose 3. Verify ID. 4. Purchase.”

Kimberley Chandler, a reporter for AP, contacted American Rounds and a spokesperson for the company confirmed that this was a pilot initiative set to expand throughout the U.S. in the coming months. The goal, according to the machine’s creators, is to streamline and simplify the sale of legal ammunition to those who meet the only requirement: to be of legal age, which is verified thanks to a simple AI facial recognition device that is activated with the machine.

Grant Mangers, CEO of American Rounds, argued that the vending machine offers greater security than conventional sales methods, because most gun stores do not usually require the buyer to submit proof of age, and there is also the risk of shoplifting — a problem that does not arise with the impregnable vending machines.

Since the vending machines debuted, major outlets such as USA Today, The New York Times, and CBS News have raised concerns about the ethics of automating and trivializing ammunition purchases in a country grappling with rampant gun violence. By September alone, gun-related deaths in the U.S. had surpassed 12,000.

Marla Bautista, an editor at USA Today, argued that it was “reckless” to sell 9-millimeter bullets in “the same stores where we buy diapers and bananas,” “when the nation is grappling with a gun violence epidemic.”

Similarly, Maddy Keyes, a 22-year-old recent college graduate and occasional contributor to Slate, shared her unsettling experience. Despite having no knowledge of firearm handling and no license to own one, she went to a store in the town of Noble and bought eggs, a packet of Chinese noodles and a dozen bullets: “As I walked through the parking lot to my car, I couldn’t suppress the feeling that I had just evaded some incredibly faulty security measures, because surely it can’t be that easy to buy bullets?” But it is.

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