Alabama's Morning News with JT
Kirby Farris covers the legalities of selling ammo from vending machines
Kirby Ferris of Ferris, Riley, and Pitt, Kirby, welcome to the show. Good morning, John. Good morning. So a topic we were talking about a couple of days ago out in, there's one in Tuscaloosa and I think one east of town, I think, gets it in Moody or... I believe that's right. There's these vending machines and they sell of all things ammunition. And I wanted you to address this. Is this, is it legal? Can you sell ammunition in a vending machine? You actually can in Alabama right now. You know, there may be legislation that addresses that in the future, but currently you can do that legally. Is it a good idea? Becomes another question. That was my follow-up question is, should you sell an ammunition in a vending machine? You know, John, I have gone round and round with this in my mind. As you know, I've been on the show for a long time with you guys now, and then I'm a gun guy hunt. So originally I thought that's just a bad idea. Then the more I thought about it, placed in the right locations. Like I say, a gun range. Gun range is a great example. I'm probably not at the Alabama Alden football game. No, no. Place in the right locations in the right way. If this technology is what they say it is, then it's probably going to be a safe way to dispense ammunition. But the company that does this, you know, and obviously I know they've thought about this, they have to accept the responsibility and potential liability for what they're doing. And that was my next question, because if you are putting these things in, let's just say, outside of a grocery store, next to the Coke machine, and some kid comes up and they're okay, they say there's safeguards built in, like there's cameras on it. And supposedly I guess it can check your ID or something like that. But even still, it seems like you could probably cheat the machine because people are pretty good at cheating vending machines. And then a kid gets that ammunition. He does something with it. And now is the, is the business that had the machine outside of it? Are they liable? Yeah. Well, if the business, maybe not the business, potentially, but probably not, but the manufacturer of the vendor, that's probably an independent contractor relationship with the business. So the vendor, the guy that puts the company that puts a machine there, if their technology is not what they say it is, and a jury found that they were negligent in the way they were managing the machine, then they certainly could be liable and it could be very serious. What about other things in vending machines? Like could you have a vending machine for guns right next to the vending machine for the bullets? You know, the, the checks that you have to go through for a gun, I think probably would make it impractical. Um, like you put your dollar in and come back in three days and dispenses the gun. That's, that's exactly right. So I don't see guns being dispensed that way. But, you know, who knows where this goes? I mean, if marijuana is legalized, I was going to put it in a vending machine. Well, you know, it used to be there was those vending machines. Remember the ones you'd put the, a couple quarters in and you pull the lever and the, and the cigarettes would fall out. Right. Yes. And I think they still have those in bars in places, really old smokey bars. Right. But, but I remember when you go in showneys and there was one in the showneys and you could put your quarters in and get, I guess, maybe the cashier is watching, but otherwise a kid could buy cigarettes. Absolutely. And you know, the only safe guard there was a sticker on the machine. Yeah. So don't do it. Which always worked for me as a kid. Yeah. That always kept you out of trouble. Well, Kirby, this, I've, I've seen where, um, Kip Tiner, we had him on yesterday talking about it in Tuscaloosa. So there are some people who have a problem with it. Kip said the same thing you did that the, I guess Alabama Bureau of Aqualal Tobacco and Firearms, they said it's okay, at least for now. So there really can't be a law or if there is a law, it has to be across the board. Yeah, they'll have the legislature will have to address it. And it wouldn't surprise me to see them do it. Um, and it wouldn't surprise me to see them put some restrictions on, especially where these things can be. I mean, you don't want to put these things, you know, in the hallway of a high school, right? Right. You don't want them probably in your church parking lot. But, uh, but I think the legislature, I think it's something that they should address and probably will and probably rein it in some. Well, and the business has a say over what they place in front of it. So a business could say, you know what? I don't think I want an ammo dispenser in front of my business. No question. Absolutely. And it was a little surprising to me to see grocery stores of, of all places. Uh, no eggs, bread and bolts. You know, if there's a big snowstorm coming, you need these things. Exactly, but I don't think they should have be at a bar. And if it wasn't at a grocery store and they wanted to sell, they could put them behind the counter with, with the other things they put behind the counter. And the grocery store, just like Walmart sells ammo, they keep it locked in a case. And you walk up to the, uh, the customer service or whatever and say, I'd like to purchase some, some shotgun shells from my, you know, from my shock, my, my can gauge, whatever. Yeah, that's such a great point. Why it's sort of struck me. Why do you have a vending machine when you have a store? Uh, why not, uh, because I certainly would trust a, a, someone working behind the counter to look at the ID, to look at the person to match the two. That seems to me to be the safest way to dispense. Uh, you know, maybe the technology is as good as they say. I hope it is. Well, I'm thinking what they're trying to work around. Maybe is, you know, there are certain products. I'm not going to go into a detail, but there are certain products that you feel uncomfortable about having to ask a human being for. And maybe this is one of them. And maybe that's what they're trying to address. But even still, I don't know. Maybe this is one of those products where you probably should face somebody face to face and say, I intend to purchase some, some bullets. It seems like the safest way to dispense, uh, to me. Kirby Ferris, a Ferris Riley and Pitt. Thank you so much for joining us this morning on Alabama's morning news.