6 July 18–24, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Oklahoma and one in a Lowe’s Market in Canyon Lake, Texas. A second machine is planned for Canyon Lake in “a couple of weeks,” and a machine is being installed in Colorado this week. “A lot of our grocery stores right now are in rural communities where they don’t have an Academy across the street. People have to drive an hour if they want to go get ammo and go hunting for the weekend,” Magers told the Observer. “I grew up here in Richardson and would love to see us continue [to expand.] We already have plans with other stores here in Texas for sure, but we would love to get into the Dallas market and surrounding area.” The company has received some push- back from gun control advocates, but Mag- ers believes much of the scrutiny directed towards American Rounds is from individu- als lacking context about the current ammu- nition market. An investigation published earlier this year by The Smoking Gun tested the age re- strictions of seven online ammunition re- tailers and found that none required a buyer to prove their age before completing a transaction. Last summer, over half a mil- lion rounds of ammo was stolen from a Ca- bela’s sporting goods store in Delaware, launching an investigation by the state’s Department of Justice. They are issues Magers feels he is solv- ing while respecting people’s Second Amendment rights. While federal law al- lows individuals to purchase shotgun and ri- fle ammunition at age 18, the vending machines require purchasers to be 21. The machines, which weigh over a ton, are in- stalled only inside of stores and are “well se- cured from theft.” “I think in people’s minds, they think of the old standard vending machines that drop a candy bar or a bag of chips to the bot- tom, and that’s not what [our vending ma- chines] are,” Magers said. “Ammunition is sold in the market today off the shelf … it is a high theft item and it is more rare than peo- ple realize that ID’s are even checked.” A ‘Questionable’ Expansion While Magers contends the software behind American Rounds’ age verification system is a secure one, some advocates for gun control are skeptical. In a statement provided to the Observer, Nick Suplina, an executive with the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety, questioned the placement of the am- munition vending machines in everyday grocery 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,” Suplina said. “In a country awash in guns and ammo, where guns are the leading cause of deaths for kids, we don’t need to further normalize the sale and pro- motion of these products.” But Magers said that because the com- pany has been approached by grocery stores primarily in “large hunting communities,” the culture of gun ownership is already nor- malized. In total, there are 200 grocery stores across nine states requesting ma- chines, he said. Nicole Golden, executive director of the gun control advocacy group Texas Gun Sense, worries the machines will be an “added complication” to efforts to tighten the state’s gun laws. Background checks are not required for the purchase of ammuni- tion, and expanded opportunities to pur- chase ammo could put bullets in the hands of “people with dangerous histories,” she said. “Many gun owners are very vocally in support of common sense gun laws and practices, and it may be that this is not viewed as a common sense practice when we know there is more we need to do to protect our communities from gun vio- lence,” Golden said. “We’ve already faced an uphill battle in passing [gun control legislation] … It just seems questionable as to if this is heading in the right direction.” Golden believes state lawmakers should question the legality of the ma- chines. In some places, it’s already in question. In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, an American Rounds machine was removed from a gro- cery store last week after Kip Tyner, a local City Council member, questioned whether the machine is legal. Tyner said he was “stunned” to learn of the machine after re- ceiving calls from concerned constituents, but discovered there was “little” the city could do in terms of regulation. “When I first saw it, I thought someone was punking me,” Tyner told told reporters at WBRC in Tuscaloosa. American Rounds states the Tuscaloosa machine was removed because of “disap- pointing sales,” but with hundreds of re- quests for installs, expansion is happening at a rapid pace. “We believe that we are creating a safer environment for the sale of ammunition, and that is what we strive to do. We want to create a safer environment while maintain- ing the integrity of the second amendment,” Magers said. “I think that everyone can agree that is a good goal.” ▼ ABORTION WHEN IN DOUBT, DOUBLE DOWN PROBE REVEALS IMPROPER USE OF TAXPAYER MONEY BY TEXAS ANTIABORTION GROUPS. BY EMMA RUBY M illions of taxpayer dollars are being sent to crisis pregnancy centers across Texas annually, but once the money is sent, oversight is scarce and it is difficult to determine the centers’ effective- ness, a recent investigation published by ProPublica and CBS News found. Texas legislators say the Alternatives to Abortion program, which operates with a $140 million budget and was rebranded to the Thriving Texas Families program in 2023, is designed to assist families affected by the statewide abortion ban. One of the program’s staunchest supporters, state Rep. Jeff Leach of Plano, told reporters the program is intended to give support and resources to the “thousands of women and their families who might find them- selves with unexpected, unplanned preg- nancies.” But the investigation into the millions of taxpayer dollars distributed to anti- abortion groups and “crisis pregnancy centers” found that the money is distrib- uted with little oversight, allowing some organizations to cash in big on Texas’ abortion ban. In some cases, organizations are charging inflated prices for common goods like diapers, and in others, they are saving the cash to put toward new facili- ties or building repairs. ProPublica reports that 80% of the state funding goes to the antiabortion group Texas Pregnancy Care Network, which manages subcontracts across the state for counseling and parenting services. In Dallas, services are provided by Viola’s House, a maternity center for pregnant teens that files for and receives state reimbursements that significantly outweigh the cost of their products. According to the investigation, Viola’s House distributes packs of diapers to new mothers that cost the organization just over a quarter, then bills the state $14 per pack. In order to access those diapers, parents are re- quired to take a class with the organization, for which Viola’s House bills the state $30 per hour. In 2023, Viola’s House was reimbursed over $1 million for materials and educational items, and $1.7 million for classes, the inves- tigation found. Viola’s House is just one of many exam- ples ProPublica and CBS News found of wasteful spending in the program, and Leach told reporters he would support seek- ing accountability if he suspected inappro- priate spending of taxpayer dollars. But the investigation seems to point to the difficulty of proving such a thing. The Health and Human Services Com- mission, which runs the program, has never completed a full evaluation of the program’s effectiveness, the investigation states. What’s more, subcontractors are not subject to independent financial au- dits, despite receiving millions from the state. Still, Leach told reporters, for now, “we’re going to double down.” Unsplash Will ammunition become a grocery item? Unsplash Money is distributed with little oversight within anti-abortion groups. Unfair Park from p4 >> p8
