When driving down U.S. Highway 93 through Hamilton, there’s no need to do a double-take when you see the sign hanging above the Radio Shack Super Store. You read it right. Customers who buy Dish Network will be rewarded with a firearm. “I think it really, really fits the Bitterroot Valley,” said Steve Strand, who has owned Hamilton’s Radio Shack for about seven years.

Strand, along with store manager Fabian Levy, wanted to generate more foot traffic at their location. So far, the gun giveaway has worked like a charm. “It’s been really successful,” Levy said. According to Strand, it has tripled his business since the promotion started last October. And, he said, easily hundreds of people have stopped in to see what the sign is all about.

“We have people literally stop in to take pictures of the sign,” Levy said. Qualifying customers have the choice between a Hi Point 380 pistol or a 20-gauge shotgun. They can also opt for a $50 gift card from Pizza Hut if they prefer, Strand said. And customers who purchase new Dish Network service that don’t qualify for a firearm are still given the Pizza Hut gift card. Dish Network allots advertising dollars to the store to promote Dish, but the gun promotion has made them skittish.

“They’ve never had a gun promotion before, so they’re a little nervous about it,” Strand said. “It’s been an uphill battle with Dish.” After a few months of volleying with the company, however, Strand was given the go-ahead to start advertising.

Kind of crazy….I mean, who in their right mind would opt for the pizza?!?!




  1. EnemyOfTheState says:

    Used to be I only went to Radio Shack for IC4004s and breadboard material. How the world has changed.

  2. So what says:

    As I recall back in the 70’s and 80’s there was a bank in colorado I think, that offered a Weatherby Mark V when you opened an account.

  3. Animby - just phoning it in says:

    .38 pistol or 20g shotgun = fifty bucks of miserable salt-lick pizza ???

    Uhhhh … shotgun, please. Extra shells.

  4. Traaxx says:

    I don’t see anything wrong, a Hi-Point 380 is worth about $50-$100. You still have to pass a background check, but I do wonder what .20 gauge it is must be something like a H&R single shot. I wonder is these are Chi-Com made?

    Whatever……………………………………….
    Traaxx

  5. Gary, the dangerous infidel says:

    Ex-cons who aren’t eligible for the firearm should not be given the Pizza Hut gift card. They’ve already paid their debt to society and the punishment should end.

    That’s where I got the worst damn pizza I’ve ever eaten.

  6. Fritze says:

    Hi-Points are junk guns, any 20 gauge shotgun would be better. They would have been better off by giving a gift card for the local gunshop doing the transfers. At least then they could have put the amount towards a quality purchase. Don’t by cheap brakes, parachutes or guns, life saving equipment needs to work.

  7. deowll says:

    I checked and was shocked at what you could buy the 380 for.

  8. admfubar says:

    i wonder how many pizza places will be robbed with these guns for dish network..
    course on the bright side.. would dish network piss off these customers with a gun?

  9. Likes2LOL says:

    Just before leaving the bank, Moore jokingly asks, “Do you think it’s a little dangerous handing out guns at a bank?”

    The bank be a safer place if every teller and clerk was packing heat… at least, the money would be safer.

  10. Pwuk says:

    Give a man a pizza, feed him for an evening, give him a gun and he can hold up banks for the rest if his life.

  11. ggore says:

    I didn’t know that area was such a hotbed of crime that you needed a gun that bad. Then again it’s probably to protect yourself from those Mooslems, Mexicans, FBI agents that have supposed to have been coming to take away our guns ever since Obama was inaugurated. I remember the spectacular spike in sales of ammo and guns when that rumor was started by the Republicans, and you know, like all the other rumors, IT HASN’T HAPPENED!

    Having just come back from a trip to Canada and having been asked time and again about Americans’ obsession with guns, I have to just roll my eyes after reading this article. It’s an absolutely refreshing feeling to wander about any major city in Canada, knowing it is a FAR safer place to be than any city in the U.S., despite the fact half the population here is carrying around a gun in their purse or pocket that they have no clue how to operate safely. And our fine Republican-controlled legislature here in Oklahoma is bound and determined to bring back the Old West by passing laws to allow Open-Carry on college campuses and every where else they possibly can. Just ridiculous.

  12. Personality says:

    I have had the H-Point 380 for 2 years and it is a very accurate gun. Heavy as hell but worth the money. I know there are Hi-Point haters who have never shot one. As far as the story, they should just offer $75 cash back.

  13. steelcobra says:

    “who in their right mind would opt for the pizza?!?!”

    For a Hi-Point? I’d go for the pizza over that POS any day.

  14. Olo Baggins of Bywater says:

    Gary…there’s a place in St.Louis, maybe a chain. Cardboard crust, Chef Boy-ar-dee sauce, and nasty fake cheese with a film on top. Place was busy, but as a former Chicagoan: That. Stuff. Was. Shit.

    As for the gun, whatever. If you can buy it at Walmart, why not give them away?

  15. denacron says:

    # 3

    Here is an interesting view of how it happened.
    http://tinyurl.com/4lh6oh3 at about 57 minutes in.

  16. acdex100 says:

    There is only one part that benefits from this gun law, its the people that make a lot of money from making guns, for the rest its a losing game.

  17. Special Ed says:

    #17 – Except for the shit Pedro says, that’s the dumbest fucking thing I ever read here. Yes, that’s saying a lot…

  18. the_haunted_sheep says:

    That’s a pretty good deal, especially if you were considering a dish anyway. Certainly better than just getting the dish. They even have a clause for the commie, liberal cowards that hate the constitution. It’s a win-win.

  19. brm says:

    #12:

    Oh, lighten up.

    Not anywhere near half of the people here are carrying guns.

  20. ggore says:

    OK #20, maybe 75% here in the absolutely red middle of the country state where I live. Obama did not win even one county in this state in ’08. When he was inaugurated all my friends went out and bought all the guns and ammo they could. Then they were mad that they couldn’t get the type of ammo they wanted, saying that it was Obama’s fault, he was trying to have it taken off the market, when the shortage was actually from all the people stocking up on guns because they just knew he was going to be coming after the guns in the next few weeks. But guess what, it didn’t happen!

    Before every gun show there would be ads on TV saying “stock up now before the government crackdown on firearms” or “stock up now before the government bans hollow points” or “stock up now before the government comes to take away our guns”. That last one might be just a little hyperbolic but that’s the impression you would get and still get from TV commercials for gun shows that take place just about every week and that thousands of people flock to.

  21. Glenn E. says:

    “who in their right mind would opt for the pizza?”

    Get the gift card, get only a few pizzas. Get a gun, get pizzas anytime, FREE, for life. But seriously, I think they should make bullets cost $5,000, just as Chris Rock once suggested in his standup routine.

  22. Glenn E. says:

    The last time I bought anything substantial from RS, it was one of those portable digital AM/FM/Tv tuners. And now the “Tv” band is useless, as it was all analog channels. And I don’t think they every designed it replacement. It hardly worked for Tv, anyway. Only a couple of local channels weren’t too weak for it to receive. And the AM band reception was crappy too. So I mainly used it for the FM. Until I got my MP3 player, which also has an FM band. But carries 95% of what I want to hear, as MP3 files. I think FM broadcast media is so dead.

  23. Glenn E. says:

    A better deal would be to sell the guns, and offer free Dish service. At least for a while.

    IMHO, you have to be somewhat of an idiot to spring for Cable or Dish. Renting or buying DVDs of shows and movies, is more convenient and cheaper, in the long run. No commercials, any what it whenever you want. The only thing Cable and Dish gets you is something new, six to eight months before it’s out on Disc.

    Rarely does any Tv series NEVER come out on DVD. And those are on ABC, NBC, CBS, or FOX, which you can watch for free with rabbit ears. Get bootleg disc copies later, if they take too long selling the legit ones. I’m still waiting for the 2nd season of “Better Off Ted”, ABC-Tv!!!

    The only thing Cable or Dish really gives you, that you can’t get on Disc, is a lot of talking heads. And mostly that’s all being controlled by Rupert Murdock, and a couple other fanatical Republican media monopolists. So why pay to have your brain brainwashed? When they should offer the service free, since there’s no real competing viewpoints being allowed on Tv, anymore.

  24. acdex100 says:

    #18

    Give everybody a gun and peace,harmony,safety and prosperity is secured.

    If you think this philosophy is true, somethink in youre brain must be short circuit.

    Long term politics :
    Please give some good argument, why the gun law in the US is good for people in the long run ?

  25. Rick says:

    The HiPoint is a great gun, thats what the Columbine kids used to kill themselves with.

  26. jescott418 says:

    But if you already have a gun. You can probably get the free dish and more!

  27. I'm not Bobbo says:

    Get over it, lib fucks. Some people are not afraid of firearms, and some people are sportsmen. Not citified wimp shits.
    When I go fishing, I always have a gun with me, regardless of the law. Rattlesnakes don’t care about politicians, nor do bears.
    My 357 Blackhawk is just fine when I am camping.
    SO, shitheads, stop telling me what I can do when I am camping, or walking around the city. It’s really none of your fucking business, unless you try to fuck with me. Then it becomes your very real misfortune to meet me.

  28. cpl. holder says:

    Anti gun people! Learn the REAL facts! Guns are used 2,191 times per day to SAVE lives in the US! 86% of gunshot wounds are treated. Any gun (even hi points) are better than being a defenseless victim when some thug kicks your door in, car jacks you, robs you, or tries to murder your loved ones. I will never understand how someone can think they are safe because they called 911. When the average defense shooting is over in less than seven seconds. There’s no police response that fast unless they are already there.

    So why do i carry a gun everywhere i go? Because a cop doesn’t fit in my holster!

    Anti gunners are being spoon fed a line of bullshit that a woman being raped and murdered is morally superior to a woman who pulls. Gun and empties a magazine into the rapist! Have an open mind! Read 2 things gunfacts.info, and More Guns, Less Crime by John Lott. Be educated on guns! Go to a gun range, rent some, shoot some. See how fun and empowering guns can be! A 95 pound woman with a carry permit and a .38 can defend herself from a 6’5 250 pound rapist! That is why guns are good! Learn to detect the lies the Brady campaign are telling you! Also learn about project gun walker! Our ATF put 2,500 guns ranging from AK47S to 50 caliber sniper rifles into the hands OF MEXICAN DRUG RUNNERS TO PAD STATISTICS ON US GUNS IN MEXICO!


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