By Associated Press

October 13, 2003, 6:51 PM EDT

OAK PARK, Mich. -- Some people are turning to an inexpensive and controversial way of customizing their cars: applying decals of bullet holes.

"So real-looking you have to touch them with your own finger to tell," says the Web site bullet1.com, which offers vinyl stickers depicting .50-caliber holes and smaller ones that look like they came from a .22.

Doug Rock, 25, of Sterling Heights, buys the stickers from a North Carolina supplier and sells them on the site. He said he's working his way through nursing school and has sold millions of the stickers since 2001.

"They're a great gag item," Rock said. "Otherwise, I guess it's just for the look, it's like a fad. I honestly don't think it will fade. My business is doing nothing but growing."

Not everyone finds the stickers funny.

"It sends the wrong message to our young people," said Gregory Wims, president of the Victims' Rights Foundation in Maryland. "It's sort of like a badge of honor. It sends a bad message."

Daniel Morton, 21, placed 10 bullet-hole decals on his 1994 Honda Accord to make it look as if it had been riddled with gunfire.

"A lot of people ask me about them and think my car got shot up," Morton said Monday. "I just try to be different."

Morton, who works for a rubber and plastics manufacturer, said it was cheaper than, say, customized wheel rims.

"I just spent a few dollars instead of $20,000," he said.
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press

Comments from our customers about AP's article:

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