Kauzlarich discusses AK-47 giveaway

Forget the toaster for a new bank account.

Gino Kauzlarich, who runs a Sarasota credit card processing firm that caters to independent merchants, from convenience stores to pharmacies, now offers new clients a voucher toward an AK-47 assault rifle. The giveaway is Kauzlarich's Chuck Norris moment — an answer to what he says is a society that doesn't do enough to protect storeowners.

“I've had enough,” Kauzlarich tells Coffee Talk. “I'm going to take some action. I'm going to do something about it.”

That something is to offer gun vouchers to new clients of merchantservice.com, a firm Kauzlarich founded in Seattle in 1995. He moved the company to Sarasota a few years ago, where he says growth has come slowly, courtesy of the recession. The company has about $1 million in annual sales, which are generated off swipe fees from processing credit card, debit card and gift card transactions for clients. “Our business reflects the merchant community,” says Kauzlarich.

The value of the gun vouchers increase incrementally based on the number of stores a new client operates. For example, a client with one store that has $100,000 a year in credit card sales will get a $50 voucher. A client with five stores that have $750,000 a year in credit card volume will get a $500 voucher. A standard AK-47, which can be bought in many gun stores, costs about $600.

Kauzlarich says the gun voucher initiative is both a public service and a way to generate publicity. He recently discussed the program on Fox TV Orlando. He also has a website, www.nomerchantvictims.com, that details the promotion.

“Keep in mind we are not simply handing out AK-47 assault rifles to anyone who opens an account with us,” Kauzlarich says in a release. The merchant must follow a state's background check and gun laws.

A new client can also cash in the voucher, and not buy a gun. That $500 would sure buy a lot of toasters.