Another ammo vending machine pops up, this time in Colorado

A vending machine that dispenses ammunition for shotguns, handguns and rifles is operating at a store in Buena Vista, Colorado.

The machines, made by American Rounds LLC, also are in Pell City, Alabama; Canyon Lake, Texas; and multiple locations in Oklahoma. Each machine scans a customer’s driver’s license and his or her face.

The latest machine is at LaGree’s Food Store in Buena Vista, according to Los Angeles' KABC-TV.

“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,” LaGree’s Food Stores President Orin LaGree said in a statement this month.

The company has plans to keep expanding its footprint.

American Rounds has contracts for machines at about 200 locations in 40 states, the company told Grand Junction, Colorado, NBC affiliate KKCO-TV.

Detractors decry the presence of ammunition in everyday stores.

“Innovations that make ammunition sales more secure via facial recognition, age verification and the tracking of serial sales are promising safety measures that belong in gun stores, not in the place where you buy your kids milk,” Everytown for Gun Safety Senior Vice President of Law and Policy Nick Suplina told The Associated Press this month.

American Rounds executives say they don't plan to have their machines become as ubiquitous as typical vending types.

“I think there has been some misconception that we're just going to place these everywhere that a vending machine-style product would go. … We’re not interested in putting them in every location,” American Rounds CEO Grant Magers told KKCO.