Aiming For New Customers: Company Giving AR-15 With Each New Roof

POWELL, WY — Some construction companies use promotional items such as water bottles or stress balls to attract a new customer. A company in Powell, Wyoming is aiming bigger. It’s giving away a free AR-15 with every roof installation.

Wiggins Construction is giving away one of the firearms to every customer who buys a roof from now until the end of the year, the company announced April 12. The promotion was the idea of Matt Thomas, the company's director of marketing and customer relations, who thought giving away an AR-15 to customers would be a lot better than a “thank you” card, according to USA Today.

“I don't think there's anything more American or patriotic you can do for a roof giveaway than a free gun,” Thomas told the paper.

Since the promotion began, Thomas said, the company has been completely booked with roofing jobs and is on track to complete more than 150 roofs — and hand out more than 150 guns — by the end of 2021.

Wyoming has one of the most lax gun laws in the United States, with the state not requiring a permit to purchase or own a firearm. The state also doesn't require residents to get a permit to openly carry a firearm in public and doesn't require background checks for private gun sales, according to the National Rifle Association.

The state also has the highest number of registered guns per capita, with around 196 guns for every 1,000 residents, CBS reported.

To take advantage of the promotion, Wiggins customers must be at least 21 years old, the owner of the home getting a new roof and not a convicted felon, according to USA Today. A gun's serial number will be logged by the company before transferring it to a customer.

Thomas told the newspaper the company is going through the effort of keeping track of the guns to make sure the promotion is done properly.

“Legally, we don't have to do that,” he said. “But we just want to be above par with everything, and we don't want to seem like we're just throwing out guns left and right to whoever.”