Buy a Truck, Get a Free AK-47
11-18-2010, 10:59 AM
A truck dealership in Florida is firing up sales with the promise of a rapid-fire machine gun.
Customers have been streaming into Nations Trucks in Sanford, near Orlando, purchasing two dozen vehicles since the sale campaign began on Veterans Day last week. Each new truck owner also walks out with a free AK-47.
"We've tripled our business," general sales manager Nick Ginetta told AOL News. "We knew it would be controversial, but it's been a phenomenal response."
An image of the semiautomatic rifle is taped to the showroom's window to lure shoppers.
Buyers receive a $400 voucher good for one Kalashnikov at Shoot Straight, a weapons dealer with several locations in the Sunshine State.
All prospective gun owners must meet state and federal gun-control laws, but Ginetta has still drawn fire from anti-gun activists and alarmed neighbors.
"I've had calls from mothers who say, 'You're giving my son a machine gun.' But once I explain exactly how it works, people are understanding," he said.
If drivers don't want to bear arms, Ginetta will apply the money to the price of the truck or give them cash back. But he said most people opted for the Romanian-made AK-47 model, famous for its durability in extreme environments.
Gun-control activists criticized the marketing ploy at Nations Trucks.
"These aren't deer rifles that he's giving away," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "He's saying here's a gun that bank robbers use."
There's been a bit of a backlash for introducing the promotion for a weapon manufactured by a Cold War enemy of the United States on Veterans Day.
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"There are a lot of veterans that would like to take him up on that deal. I'm not one of them," Dana Rouch, a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, told local news station Channel 13.
But Ginetta said the decision was strictly an economic one.
"They're so many made that the cost of the weapon is so cheap," Ginetta said. "We would have loved to offer an AR-15 made in this country, but the cost is tremendous."
American-made vehicles are the bread and butter of the dealership, he added.
A Missouri auto dealer also threw in a complimentary AK-47 to customers last year, Fox News reported.
The discount expires at the end of November.
Customers have been streaming into Nations Trucks in Sanford, near Orlando, purchasing two dozen vehicles since the sale campaign began on Veterans Day last week. Each new truck owner also walks out with a free AK-47.
"We've tripled our business," general sales manager Nick Ginetta told AOL News. "We knew it would be controversial, but it's been a phenomenal response."
An image of the semiautomatic rifle is taped to the showroom's window to lure shoppers.
Buyers receive a $400 voucher good for one Kalashnikov at Shoot Straight, a weapons dealer with several locations in the Sunshine State.
All prospective gun owners must meet state and federal gun-control laws, but Ginetta has still drawn fire from anti-gun activists and alarmed neighbors.
"I've had calls from mothers who say, 'You're giving my son a machine gun.' But once I explain exactly how it works, people are understanding," he said.
If drivers don't want to bear arms, Ginetta will apply the money to the price of the truck or give them cash back. But he said most people opted for the Romanian-made AK-47 model, famous for its durability in extreme environments.
Gun-control activists criticized the marketing ploy at Nations Trucks.
"These aren't deer rifles that he's giving away," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "He's saying here's a gun that bank robbers use."
There's been a bit of a backlash for introducing the promotion for a weapon manufactured by a Cold War enemy of the United States on Veterans Day.
Sponsored Links
"There are a lot of veterans that would like to take him up on that deal. I'm not one of them," Dana Rouch, a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, told local news station Channel 13.
But Ginetta said the decision was strictly an economic one.
"They're so many made that the cost of the weapon is so cheap," Ginetta said. "We would have loved to offer an AR-15 made in this country, but the cost is tremendous."
American-made vehicles are the bread and butter of the dealership, he added.
A Missouri auto dealer also threw in a complimentary AK-47 to customers last year, Fox News reported.
The discount expires at the end of November.
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