Memorial Day weekend in honor of those who died in the service of our country, the company that made a weapon of war used to kill 19 children and two adults in a Texas elementary school had planned to sell its wares Annual membership of the arms industry. misfortune.
But after Tuesday’s massacre in Uvalde, Daniel Defense is no longer expected to join all the other fans of the violent death at this weekend’s NRA convention in Houston.
By Wednesday afternoon, the company should have occupied booth 4839, conveniently near the George R. Brown Convention Center cafeteria, amid what the NRA calls “14 acres of weapons and equipment.”
“DRAW, DEMONSTRATION, CELEBRITY APPEARANCES AND MORE!” Daniel Defense had promised it online.
The objects on display would have included the DDM4 V7 rifle, the model used with such a horrible effect at Robb d’Uvalde Primary School.
“A perfect rifle for everyone,” says a Daniel Defense promotional video.
The list of exhibitors indicates that booth 4839 has been taken over by the NRA itself. Offers will now include “Member Programs and Services, Commission-Based Distributor Programs, Manufacturer Programs, Legislative Initiatives and Awareness, Firearms Training, Education and Security Programs, NRA Advancement, Foundation, Friends of the NRA and NRA Publications “.
Daniel Defense can still benefit from Tuesday’s horror. The company reported that the killing of 20 children and six adults in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut increased sales to people who feared a ban on assault weapons.
The now $ 100 million-a-year-old company was founded by 59-year-old Marty Daniel of Georgia. He started doing garage doors after dropping out of South Georgia twice before graduating. A company story on its website suggests that he might not have taken up arms if he had been a better golfer.
“Daniel Defense started out because Marty’s golf game was crap. He spent most of his free time relaxing on the golf course, until the day a friend invited him to shoot his AR “says the story. “Every shot he fired filled him with a satisfaction he had never experienced before. Marty would buy his first AR that same year.”
It was 1999. He made his first weapon a decade later. It was the DDM4 V1. The M4 indicates a kinship with the military M4 that Colt produced for the U.S. Armed Forces. Daniel joined Bushmaster and Smith & Wesson and other companies to sell variations of a weapon of war to civilians.
“FREEDOM. PASSION. PRECISION “, said his trademark advertising mantra.
He was soon good enough to film an ad he was hoping to air during the 2014 Super Bowl. He was presenting a fictional former Marine at home with his wife, watching his baby.
“My family’s safety is my top priority,” says one narrator. “I am responsible for their protection and no one has the right to tell me how to defend them. So I chose the most effective tool for the job … Daniel Defense “.
The NFL considered the ad inappropriate and never aired. Daniel Defense continued to do other variations and was left uncensored when he tweeted a photo of a young man cradling a semi-automatic rifle while sitting on a carpeted floor.
“It teaches a child the path to follow and, when he is old, he will not stray from it,” the title read.
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The tweet was published on May 16, which was the 18th anniversary of Salvador Ramos. He was still three years too young to buy a beer in Texas, but old enough to buy two AR-15-style assault rifles in the next two days. Along with 375 ammunition cartridges 5.56. One of the weapons was a DDM4 V7.
A receipt for the online purchase posted on an Instagram account associated with Ramos shows that the price was $ 1,870, plus $ 154.28 sales tax, for a total of $ 2,024.28. Ramos also posted a photo of his two rifles.
“Photos of my weapons,” he wrote in a post to a young woman he had met online.
He could also have said “cock photo”. You don’t need a psychiatrist to guess the attraction these weapons have for sadly insecure young people who yearn to be instantly alpha.
Ramos left the other rifle in his grandmother’s van when he went to school Tuesday morning. The DDM4 V7 was his favorite weapon when he went inside to start shooting at children.
The local school district has instituted numerous security protocols and has its own police department. One of his officers confronted Ramos and two police officers from Uvalde responded shortly afterwards.
But all this was not an immediate effective defense against the Daniel Defense product. The firepower allowed Ramos to kill 21 people, including a teacher married to one of the school district’s police officers. Ramos had at least seven magazines with 30 cartridges each and continued firing until he was killed by a heroic U.S. Border Patrol agent.
Of course, the killing of 19 youths was not about to deter the NRA from pursuing its convention. Former President Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have announced they will still be addressing the meeting.
Anyone who called Daniel Defense’s main number on Wednesday received a message saying no one was available and to call back. Marty Daniel could not be reached. Daniel Defense’s Twitter account was restricted to approved followers, and a request for approval by the journalist was “pending.”
But early in the evening, the company responded to a message left to the owner’s wife, Cindy Daniel.
“Sad day, that’s for sure,” said spokesman Steve Reed.
Shortly afterwards, an email from the company arrived.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic events in Texas this week. Our thoughts and prayers go to the families and community devastated by this evil act. As reported at Governor Abbott’s press conference, we understand that the weapon of The fire used in the attack was manufactured by Daniel Defense, and we will cooperate with all federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities in their investigations. sentences “.
Reed did not answer a question about the company and the NRA convention. But a check on the list showed that Daniel Defense will no longer have an official presence when the showroom opens on Friday. With or without Booth 4839, Daniel Defense will continue to be one of the leading profitable suppliers of semi-automatic rifles. His website says he has the DDMP4 V7 in stock.
And Uvalde’s families intend to bury 19 murdered children.