AP Photo/Brennan Linsley

You know the deal where if you buy X, you get Y? It’s a common bit of marketing. Usually, it’s something that’s not overly expensive compared to what the product is, but it’s rarely about getting you to buy X. Instead, it’s about getting you to buy it from that company. It’s a case of making the deal a little sweeter so that you make the purchase you were already going to make, but you buy it from their company instead of a competitor.

Frankly, it’s a tried and true tactic.

One roofing company in Virginia is trying it. The giveaway is a firearm in exchange for your patronage.

A Virginia roofing company is offering a free AR-15 with a new roof installation. LMC Exteriors announced the limited-time promo on social media saying “We are the only contractor in the state of Virginia that’s giving away a free gun after the completion of every roof, siding or window purchase.”

What they’re doing is giving customers a voucher that they can exchange at a local gun store which will conduct the federally-required background check.

Of course, depending on what the politics are like in their location, it may also stir up a bit of controversy. Virginia has been trending blue over the last few years, so it’s possible this will stir up the locals. If so, it may also fire up the hardcore pro-gun crowd to get their new roofs or windows from this company in particular.

For better or worse, the anti-gun left has been polarizing American businesses left and right. They’ve been pushing to create explicitly anti-gun companies. They’ve succeeded with companies like Dick’s Sporting Goods, TOMS, and Levi’s.

They shouldn’t be surprised with companies starting to take an explicitly pro-gun position. A good number of American still believe in the Second Amendment, after all, and those are dollars someone is going to want to court.

There’s a reason Dick’s competitors like Bass Pro Shops haven’t taken a similar position. They understand that doing so would be bad for the bottom line and their long-term health. There’s a reason Dick’s is having to gut its hunting sections in many of its stores. Hunters want nothing to do with them anymore.

Those companies understand that gun owners have needs and will shop with businesses that aren’t going to oppose their fundamental human rights.

In the coming years, expect to see more and more of this kind of thing as companies may well decide to signal their allegiances politically to gain customers who otherwise might not even think about who supports what rights.

Is it sad that things have come to this? A little. But, with the way things are today, it’s also inevitable. Companies that try to remain neutral will be pressured by anti-gunners to pick a side. They seem to believe that the anti-gun position is the default, so we need to counter it by demanding companies consider us as well.

In time, maybe the anti-gun zealots will back down. Until this, we need to applaud companies that aren’t afraid to make a stand while making a buck.