Skip to Content
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Streetsblog Los Angeles home
Log In
Car Culture

Car Buyers Pick Their Poison: Free Gun or Free Gas

car-ad.jpg

With Detroit increasingly desperate to unload inventory, one Missouri car dealership seems to have struck gold with a special promotion: Buyers get a $250 coupon towards either a gun or gasoline. The offer comes from Max Motors, a small dealership south of Kansas City that has slapped the image of a grimacing cowboy wielding two pistols all over its website.

Max Motors owner Mark Muller claims sales have quadrupled since the offer took effect. But in this case, the high price of gas seems not to be influencing consumers' decisions. Most takers are opting to pack heat, reports Reuters:

Every buyer so far "except one guy from Canada and one old guy" has elected to take the gun, Muller said. Muller recommends his customers select a Kel-Tec .380 pistol. "It's a nice little handgun that fits in your pocket," he said.

When asked by the bloggers at Wheels why drivers choose guns over gas, Freakonomics co-author Stephen J. Dubner explained that most consumers prefer their prizes to come in the form of an optional purchase -- the gun -- rather than a necessary purchase -- the gas. "For many coffee-drinking New Yorkers, an equivalent may be the choice between $250 grocery money and an espresso machine," the blog says.

Of course, the analogy doesn't run very deep. According to the Centers for Disease Control, guns were responsible for 30,694 deaths in 2005, and motor vehicles caused 45,520. You can say this for the latte-sipping elite -- the CDC reported no deaths by espresso.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Los Angeles

Koreatown Community Rallies To Reclaim Our Streets From ICE Terror

"This is an attack on Los Angeles. This is an attack on California. On all of us."

July 11, 2025

Give Input on Metro Sepulveda Rail Plan to connect Valley and Westside

Metro is still deciding between some low-performing monorail alternatives and some high-performing heavy rail alternatives. What do you want to see?

July 10, 2025

Whittier Councilmember Fernando Dutra Is New Metro Board Chair

Board Chair Dutra: "[Metro is] not just a train and a bus company. We also manage projects on the freeways... Our projects along the 5, the 605, 91, and 105 Freeway are very very important... I'll be focusing on making sure we keep our freeways moving freely."

July 9, 2025
See all posts