BUTLER, Mo. – A Missouri car dealership is triggering interest by offering customers free guns or gasoline with any purchase, and despite the skyrocketing price of fuel, patrons are going for the guns.
"We are aware of the gasoline and crime problem in America," states an ad on the website of Max Motors. It goes on to note it "wants to be part of the solution and not part of the problem."
"What we're doing is giving everyone who buys a new or used vehicle a free handgun," said Mark Muller, the dealership's owner. "We have guns to display, but we can't actually give them a gun, so what we do is give them a coupon for a local gun dealer here in town so they can pick out any gun they want. We recommend a semi-automatic."
The certificate is good for either $250 at Alton Arms or for $250 worth of gas. Muller told WND no one has chosen the gas so far.
The promotion, which goes through the end of this month, has caused a stir among anti-gun-rights activists who turned up at the dealership to protest.
"Six people came by – a bunch of long hairs who think the '60s are still going on, and who obviously don't have jobs," Muller said. "We all went out there with our cowboy hats on and told them we'd stomp 'em, and they left."
John Alton, owner of Alton Arms, doesn't see any problem with the campaign.
"I'm a federal firearms dealer and we're registered with the federal government. Any gun I sell requires the customer to fill out the standard forms, and I do a background check on them," he said.
Local law enforcement took calls from the media after the promotion was announced, but found nothing wrong with what the dealership is doing.
"They're not doing anything illegal," said Lt. Randy Beshore of the Butler Police Department. "I think the misconception is that people thought they got the handgun right there at the dealership."
Even so, the dealership has received threatening phone calls.
"Someone who said they were with the ATF called and said 'You need to shut down this promotion right now or we're shutting you down.' I told them to bring their attorneys, I don't know if [the call] was real or fake," Muller said.
"I don't see what the problem is, we have a right to bear arms. It's in the Constitution and the reason we have [Amendment] No. 2 is to protect No. 1."
When asked if Sen. Barack Obama's recent comments about people clinging to guns and religion inspired the promotion, Muller said yes.
"My next promotion is to give away a free King James Bible to any Muslim that converts to Christianity," he said.
They've got style over there at Max Moters.
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