American car dealer who gives away a gun with every purchase sees sales shoot up fourfold

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And Max Motors owner Mark Muller reveals sales have soared fourfold since he launched the scheme in Butler, Missouri.

The dealership, which has a grimacing cowboy wielding a pistol as its logo and offers $250 £126) fuel or gun credit, has sold more than 30 trucks and cars in the last three days.

Offer: Max Motors' website advertises a free handgun or fuel card with every car purchased

"This thing has taken off. Sales have quadrupled," said Mr Muller who claims Barack Obama's comments that residents of the Midwestern state “cling to guns and religion”had inspired him.

Every buyer so far "except one guy from Canada and one old guy" has elected to take the gun, he revealed.

Mr Muller recommends his customers purchasing both old and new vehicles buy a Kel-Tec .380 pistol.

"It's a nice little handgun that fits in your pocket," he added.

Gun-toting: The dealer's logo is a cowboy wielding two pistols

Mr Muller said he got the idea after Illinois senator Mr Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the Missouri primary.

"Barack Obama said all those people in the Midwest, you've got to have compassion for them because they're clinging to their guns and their Bibles," he said .

"I found that quite offensive.

"We all go to church on Sunday and we all carry guns

"I've got a gun in my pocket right now. I have a rifle in my truck.

We've got to shoot the coyotes out here, they're attacking our cows, our chickens.

"We're not clinging to nothing. We're just damn glad to live in a free country where you can have a gun if you want. This is the way it ought to be."

Controversy: Filmmaker Michael Moore with a rifle he was given after opening a bank account in Michigan

This latest gun giveaway - in a country where the right to bear arms is enshrined in the constitution - is just the latest bizzare promotion involving weapons.

In Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine documentary, he received a rifle after opening an account at North Country Bank in Traverse City, Michigan.