Heated seats, GPS, CD player, oh and a gun!

We have all heard them --- the ads on TV and the radio for auto dealers with promotions. Years ago it was something simple such as a hot dog and soda on a Saturday afternoon. Lately there have been flat screens TVs, mp3 players, GPS units, and even drawings for prizes such as European trips or Caribbean cruises. It seems like the newest craze is something to offset the cost of gas. Dodge /Chrysler / Jeep was offering gas at $2.99 a gallon for a couple years, while others were simply offering gift cards for gas stations.

An auto dealership in Butler, MO (about a hour south of Kansas City) for the month of June and July was doing just that as well. If you buy your next auto from them, you will get a gift card for $250.00 in gas. Seems great, right? Well, this dealership added a choice though, you can either get the card for gas, or a new handgun. That's right, if you don't want to bother with the gas gift card, you can get a brand new handgun. Much better idea huh? Oh, and the owner of the dealership said "...surprisingly, over 85% of those eligible to receive the gifts have chosen the gun." It doesn't take a guy as smart as me to see the connection between a new car and a gas gift card. That is the easy one. I am trying to find the correlation between the new hybrid Honda Civic and a HANDGUN. Why a gun? What's even more interesting, is that the county the dealership is in, has had a "dramatic increase" over the past couple weeks in the amount of gun related crimes (remember the promotion began the 1st of June). Go figure.

The owner was interviewed by a news station in Kansas City and was asked about why he thought the sudden increase in gun crimes have come about, and if his promotion was to blame. He assured the reporter that his promotion was in no way connected to the outbreak in crime, and that he thought responsible Americans should be able to own a gun, and with the escalating cost of fuel, he thought most people who would 'need' a gun, would not be able to afford one. He went on to suggest that he was merely helping out his customers receive something that is granted to us in the Constitution. Nice guy, huh?

The next day, a crime was committed where a gas station attendant was held up while a second person pumped gasoline into two different cars. (You can probably see where this is going.) Thanks to surveillance cameras, the police were able to easily identify the suspects. One, who happened to be inside holding up the clerk, was driving a brand new car, and no it was not stolen. Wen the police did a check on the gun, it was obtained through the promotion from the car dealership. I originally thought that if the guy needed the gas that bad, he should have opted for the gasoline gift card, but I guess the gift card runs out, and I'm sure he thought his gun would serve him well whenever he needed to fill up. Needless to say, the owner ended the option of the gun as part of the promotion early.