Selling Cars in Missouri with God, Guns, and Gas

Max Motors, a car dealership in Butler, Missouri, has been making headlines with a controversial new promotion: buy a car, get a free gun or gas. It seems their usual sales pitch of “guaranteed lowest price in the nation” was no longer enough to get people in the barn door. So they looked at the bigger issues and tried to get proactive. Max Motors’ website patriotically claims: “We are aware of the gasoline and crime problem in America. Max Motors, the Country Dealer wants to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.” This has landed them on Fox News, ABC, MSNBC, BBCNews, NBC, Reuters, and surely more to come. The dealership has even set up another website, http://www.GunsAndGas.com, to capture support, defend the right to carry guns, and very interestingly, pontificate about America’s “real roots”, the Christian Bible.

According to BBC News, the dealership (with “no big city tricks”) has sold more than 30 cars and trucks in the past three days, apparently because of the “God, Guns, and Gas” pitch. Only two of the 30 buyers have chosen the free gas (in the form of a $250 gas card) over the free handgun.

Owner Mark Muller credits Barack Obama for the promotion: “We did it because of Barack Obama. He said all those people in the Midwest, you’ve got to have compassion for them because they’re clinging to their guns and their Bibles. I found that quite offensive. We all go to church on Sunday and we all carry guns.”

I love country air, oh yes I do. But sentiments like this sure stink it up bad. How does one qualify “love thy neighbor” and “thou shalt not kill” with the right to defend property? Just another one of those big mysteries in life that seem to get more incomprehensible the farther away one gets from the city.

Note: For your protection, this post contains no links to the dealership. The image above is a screenshot from Max Motors’ website, which you can search for yourself, although I suggest not giving them the pageview.