Buy a truck and get a free AK-47 riffle

The AK-47 assault riffle and its variants and derivatives are used by armed forces, rebel groups and terrorist organizations worldwide. (Photo source unknown)

That's what I call guerrilla marketing.

Buy a pickup truck and get a voucher for a free AK-47 assault riffle as part of a promotion a truck dealership in Missouri is employing to boost pickup truck sales in August.

I find this amazing, but I'm not exactly sure why.

The owner of Max Motors in Butler expects people to object to the promotion, but he stresses that he's not handing out free guns.

"We're just not going to give people an AK-47 gun," says Mark Muller. "Felons buy cars, too."

Why do I find this funny?

"What we are going to do is we're going to give them a voucher where they can go to their local gun dealer, or we have local gun dealers we would strongly recommend where they can buy a gun and go through the proper background checks so the guns wind up in the right hands," he told KMBC-TV (Kansas City).

Alrighty then. Let's be objective here. He's not breaking the law, and gun ownership is a constitutional right in the U.S.--right?

Still...there's just something about this that screams, WTF?

This is not the first time Muller employs guerilla marketing to sell cars. Last year he gave away pistols, and "it went over very well" The AK-47 is an effort to top last year's sales.

"[The pistol giveaway] spiked our web traffic and we sold, we estimate, 35 extra cars during the promotion than we normally would have, and this year we're trying to sell an extra 100 cars more than we normally would," Muller says.

The retail value of an AK-47 is $450, but according to Muller customers can spend their voucher on the gun of their choice, KMBC reported.

How many thugs out there would love to have an AK-47 if--IF--they could afford it? Um...probably all of them.

Now a thug or a felon or a terrorist can bring any vehicle, trade it in, and drive his new pickup truck out of the lot with a voucher in hand for a free assault riffle, or whatever gun they choose whose price is equal or less the voucher's value.

A survey on the KMBC story's webpage shows that about twice as many people think the promotion not a good idea as those who think it's "a good promotion."

If I were reporting on this story, I would (a) call a few gun-control advocates and ask them what they think about the promotion, (b) talk to a couple of lawyers about it, (c) interview gun dealers in the area, and (d) ask Muller what gave him the idea of attracting potential customers with vouchers for guns.

Maybe pickup trucks and rifles do go together, after all. Missouri residents better readjust their driving habits...especially around new trucks, if you ask me.

The AK-47 is fixin' to be a favorite among felons in Missouri.

The AK-47 is a selective fire, gas operated 7.62mm assault rifle developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov about 60 years ago. Today, the AK-47 and its variants and derivatives, which are manufactured in many countries, are used throughout the world by armed forces, guerrillas, and terrorists.

Factbox (from military.discovery.com)

Type: semi or fully automatic assault rifle
Country of origin: Soviet Union
Caliber: 7.62 x 39 mm (.30 inch)
Cartridge capacity: 30 rounds
Muzzle velocity: 2,329 feet per second
Rate of fire: 600 rounds per minute

With over 75 million built worldwide, the AK-47 (a.k.a. "Kalashnikov") is a firearms legend that has probably inflicted more lethal results than any other single weapon system ever produced.

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