Radio Shack Gun Giveaway: Montana Store Offers Free Firearm With Dish Network Purchase

The Radio Shack store in Hamilton, Montana knows how to get customers' attention.

Since October, the franchise has been offering free guns to anyone who purchases Dish Network. And the promotion has been wildly successful--proprietor Steve Strand says business has tripled since its inception.

"I think it really, really fits the Bitterroot Valley," he told Montana's Ravalli Republic.

Before claiming their firearm, customers must undergo a background check. They are then given a gift certificate to Frontier Guns & Ammo, a nearby gun supply store. Those who don't qualify or prefer to opt-out of the giveaway receive a $50 coupon to Pizza Hut.

A sign outside the store proclaims, "Protect yourself with the Dish Network. Sign up now, get a free gun." According to Strand, hundreds have come into his shop because of the advertisement, and store manager Fabian Levy told the Republic that people stop by just to take pictures of the sign.

The promotion comes amidst increased scrutiny of America's firearm industry. In the wake of the shooting massacre that rocked Arizona in January, a new poll shows key states support strengthening our country's background-check system for gun purchases. Recently, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched a nationwide gun control campaign, and the Obama administration is exploring potential changes to gun laws.

Meanwhile, Strand claims his offer has been nothing less than successful. "We've received a tremendous amount of positive reactions," he told the Republic, noting that only one person has complained in the six months since he launched the campaign.

Comments

[Robert Guanco]

10:57 AM on 04/19/2011

Dish Network can record their favorite shows and even pause live television with a DVR, which is available at no extra charge from satellite companies. For you to have some ideas that satellite tv is still the best for you, Go to http://www.dish-network-vs-direct-tv.com/ to learn more.

[Saide Heldberg]

05:40 PM on 04/08/2011

I want to clarify, as a DISH Network employee, that DISH issued this statement about what these independent electronics retailers are doing:

DISH Network is not providing any marketing or advertising support for any promotions relating to firearms, and we require our retailers to adhere to all local, state and federal laws in connection with their promotions and marketing activities.

[FEsrigoHL]

06:14 PM on 04/07/2011

It is impossible to stop mentally deranged people from doing mayhem. However, I do beleive in background checks, no hidden firearms and no automatic weapons. Everyone should have passed a course in firearms handling and shooting before getting a license and a gun. All illegal gun owners should be jailed AND fined. THAT SAID: if you look on YouTube there are directions on how to make a homemade gun from simple, ordinary materials. Where there is a will there is a way, so one person can stab, shoot, poison or run over another person. The emphasis should be on stopping mass killings. NO one with an ongoing mental problem should be alowed to own any weapon or attend any school or meeting. People in authority (teachers and administrators) should be mandated to report ANYONE with abnormal symptoms including blogs, school papers, etc and web sites that state a plan or wish for harm to ANYONE (except terrorists). There are MANY

[rhymes4ourtimes]

03:27 PM on 04/07/2011

Free guns mad sense- there's no cause for alarm.
The business just needed "a shot in the arm."

[Adam Davies]

05:18 PM on 04/05/2011

Why is everyone so scared of guns? Numerous studies have shown that there are very likely at least 2 million defensive uses of guns a year, or nearly 5,500 defensive uses of guns daily. At least there are 400,000 defensives uses of guns yearly, or nearly 1,100 defensive gun uses daily. That is far more than the 36 Americans daily killed by a firearm. If people were educated on gun safety, there wouldn't even be negligent discharges (there are no "accidental" discharges, if a gun fires when it is not pointed at a target there was a safety violation by the user) that kill people, often with simple things such as failing to discharge the chambered round after dropping the magazine. Guns do not magically float through the air and pull their own trigger, it is pulled by a human being. It is humans that are killers, not guns. Guns are simply tools. Guns also do not make the US more violent. We also have more murderers by knives than other countries, but I doubt the per capita ownership of cutlery is any higher here than in other nations. We need to address other things, the guns aren't the issue. Regulating them more doesn't affect criminals anyway, it only affects law-abiding citizens. Criminals will always have guns, and citizens deserve the full right to have them to be on equal footing as the criminal. Plus, they do a background check anyway, so criminals won't get guns with this program.

[Rooster Coburn]

05:49 PM on 04/02/2011

Link to 53 page pdf file about legal aspects of the Second Amendment.  Maybe LE45 or OdinsEye will see it.  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1763830&

[HumanityFirst]

01:22 PM on 04/01/2011

Why is Dish Network looking the other way?!? Because they are making money! That is shameful. I am glad I do not belong to DN or I would have to go through the hassle of changing to another company.

PS: Radio Shack is still in business!!!???

[Txjwr]

02:16 PM on 03/31/2011

What is amazing about this story is the news that Radio Shack is still in business. Gun nuts in red states is business as usual.

[freedom1947]

10:41 AM on 03/30/2011

Are muslims and other american minorities qualified for a free gun, or is it just Montana cowboys?

[LynneE]

12:27 PM on 03/29/2011

It just occurred to me what Radio Shack's liability might be if someone uses their "free gun" to commit a crime. At the very least, bad publicity.

[EmilyU]

01:45 PM on 03/29/2011

Someone already pointed out that since the person has to pass a background check, the store's liability is limited. Plus the store is independently owned and the corporate Radio Shack was not involved, so Radio Shack itself would probably not be liable.

[ontariogirl]

08:55 AM on 03/29/2011

Huh......we don't even get free batteries here.

[Derek Lantin]

06:35 AM on 03/29/2011

Sir

At first I was horrified by this article and the apparent casual approach to firearms in Montana.

Anyone who reads my books knows that I am keen on guns, action, adventure and the military. I own several guns and I shoot frequently at a local club. However I do not carry guns around with me and I do not keep guns at home; the weapons stay safely locked up in the shooting club. So it is easy to see why I was shocked by the article.

Then I looked up a few statistics. It seems Montana has a very high proportion of the population who own guns and a very low incidence of violent crimes, - so perhaps the comments made by “The Zorz” (below) were right on the point.

According to the statistics I found, Montana rates about 253 violent crimes per 100,000 of population; the highest rating was 1,345 per 100,000 in District Columbia and the lowest was Maine with 119.

So if a casual attitude to gun ownership works for the people in Montana, I suppose we should not be overly concerned.

Sincerely, Derek Lantin. http://dereklantin.booksabuzz.com

[EmilyU]

01:52 PM on 03/29/2011

" However I do not carry guns around with me and I do not keep guns at home; the weapons stay safely locked up in the shooting club. "

Which, since you do not live in the US, is probably the law in Thailand, Andorra, or France.

Most people in the US keep firearms at home.

[metyldragon]

05:22 PM on 03/28/2011

First of all, weapons are available everywhere and I am not talking your stores or gun dealers where you need to have a background check. Get into reality people, black market weapons have always been available and they are not that hard to find. Anything from a little Saturday night special to a military tank, and then some. If a criminal is intent on killing or maiming, they will find a weapon and a way. And that my friends, is a fact...

[Adam Davies]

05:23 PM on 04/05/2011

Which is exactly why the citizens need weapons in order to be on the same level as the criminals.

[enlightened45]

02:42 PM on 03/28/2011

If you opt for the free gun with purchase from Radio Shack, for the small sum of $299, you can purchase a service contract which includes a 10% off offer from the local mortuary in Hamilton, Montana for the span of your Dish Network contract...and 60% off if that undertaking service is related to the gun give-a-way....

[Jacob Black]

03:30 PM on 03/28/2011

You know, if folks didn't get in such a twist about these promotional gimmicks involving guns, the merchants wouldn't get nearly as much publicity, and the promotions would go away.

[enlightened45]

03:52 PM on 03/28/2011

You really don't believe that the customers interested in the gun give-a-way with the Dish Network contract are reading any of this, the letters to the editor in the local papers, or anything related to people's reactions, either pro or con. PT Barnum had it right on the money.....

[CelticMajic]

04:52 PM on 03/28/2011

E45, have you ever lived in a small town in the west?

[David Carson]

11:36 PM on 03/28/2011

I don't think he would like small town living

[jusathot]

02:26 PM on 03/28/2011

FARENHEIT 451!