While allergy medicine may sit in locked cases at your local grocery store, one thing is becoming easier to access: Bullets.

Right now in states across the South, people can walk into their local grocery store for milk, eggs, and bread — and grab a pack of shotgun, rifle or handgun ammunition on their way out the door.

American Rounds LLC has begun installing AI-powered vending machines that sell ammunition in grocery stores across Alabama, Oklahoma, and Texas. They're already planning to expand to California, Florida and Hawaii and beyond, potentially bringing this dangerous technology to a store near you.

This isn't just a disturbing trend ― it's a dangerous escalation in the normalization of gun culture in the United States. Here’s the reality: Weapons of war — bombs, drones, assault rifles — don’t make our, or any, communities safer. Making ammunition as easily accessible as a candy bar is inappropriate and irresponsible, and it puts the safety and well-being of our communities at risk.

The simple reality is that you can't you can't fire a gun without ammunition. That’s why it’s crucial we start to regulate ammunition and firearms with more urgency. Congress must stop the installation of bullet vending machines, but they won’t do it without massive pressure from activists like you.