Now this is cool-

http://living.msn.com/love-relationships/the-heart-beat-blog-post?post=95f7a24d-0214-471e-a516-3b3f4b3bdf88

I might seriously inquire if I can get in on this deal from here and keep the ring for Xmas

Article below-

Heads up, extreme couponers, hunters and the betrothed! A jewelry store in Iowa has an interesting proposal for customers looking to, well, propose.
Beginning this Thursday, Jewelry By Harold will begin offering a free shotgun for customers who purchase a diamond engagement ring.
"I'm a little bit of a crazy guy," Harold van Beek, the store's owner, tells MSN's The Heart Beat. "So one of the most important things in life is fun, and yeah…deer season is coming up in Iowa, and I like to hunt myself."

Essentially, the offer is an incentive for those hunting for both game and marriage. Anyone who purchases a diamond ring from Harold before October 31st will receive a voucher to pick up their free Remington 870 at Fin and Feather in Iowa City. Harold explains:
"I went to the local outdoor store, to the hunting department, and I talked to them. I bought my shotgun there myself, and I said, 'If I want to buy this shotgun for my customers, are you willing to participate?' And they said yes."

He adds that he's been so busy with his new business, he hasn't had much time to go out and hunt (deer, that is—not marriage). So perhaps this is Harold's way of mixing business with pleasure.
"I thought this is probably something cool. And something unexpected."

Talk about a "shotgun wedding"!

I believe I'm seeing an upswing in this type of offering.

I've been on the gun boards since I-don't-know-when and it looks like I'm seeing more and more comments in the last two or so years regarding merchants from all over making this kind of deal.  The most recent that I've seen was about some retailer in Idaho doing it.

Of course, it drives the anti-gunners bonkers, which is a good thing, but  it also indicates that firearms ownership is  becoming "re-normalized" over the past five-ish years, in my informal observation. 

I suspect this "re-normalization" is due in large part to the shall-issue concealed-carry movement in most of the states.  Kind of a "gateway" to more firearms in the hands of the humble peons.

 I remember The Bank Of Boulder, back in the sixties, offering a Weatherby rifle for the purchase of large Certificates of Deposit for um, say, five years, as an up-front interest payment.  I am told that this was what "made" the bank in its infancy.  (I used to bank there, but I myself never took advantage of the offer.  They changed their name since then.)

Terry, 230RN

REF:
Search term:  "bank of boulder + weatherby"