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The Next Stimulus Plan: Kalashnikovs for Clunkers

1:35 PM EDT on July 28, 2009

Max_Motors.jpg

In case you don't qualify for the federal "cash for clunkers" rebate program, Mark Muller of Max Motors in Butler, Missouri, has an offer you might want to consider: get a free AK-47 with a new truck.

The
dealer, whose motto is "God, Guns, Guts and American Pick-Up Trucks,"
one-upped himself after last year's offer of pistols or petro and said that sales have doubled since the promotion started. Declaring
his dealership a recession-free zone, he also had some choice social
commentary in various interviews:

    • "There's a bunch of evil in the world and people need to protect themselves."
    • "I'd personally like to have a sporting chance, instead of just becoming a victim."
    • "Without guns, we are subjects. With guns, we are citizens."
    • "The only 911 call I need is chambering a round."

Fortunately,
you can't just walk out of Max Motors with an AK; Muller provides you
with a voucher for $450 redeemable at a local gun dealer, where you
still have to go through a background check. Maybe I haven't been to a
gun show in a while, but doesn't that seem like a lot of gun for so
little coin?

No matter what your moral leanings, you
have to admit Muller's plan is ingenious marketing, given that, outside
of iPhones, guns are about the only thing selling well in this economy under this presidency. He has even given interviews to Al Jazeera and Russia Today.

Two of the more entertaining interviews follow after the jump.

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