“We understand that the firearm used in the attack was manufactured by Daniel Defense,” the website states. “We will cooperate with all federal, state and local law enforcement authorities in their investigations.”
Days before the shooting, the Georgia-based company tweeted a provocative image of a small child holding an assault weapon with the caption: “Train a child on the path he should follow and when he grows up it will not go away. “
The company, founded by Marty Daniel, is now under the scrutiny of politicians and activists seeking to change gun laws so that civilians do not have easy access to military-grade weapons.
The U.S. House of Representatives Oversight and Reform Committee asks Daniel Defense to provide information such as how much they spend on advertising, their gross revenue from assault rifle sales, and other items before their hearing on the 8th. of June that “they will examine the root cause.” of armed violence and assessing measures to prevent further loss of life by firearms. “Daniel Defense has since deleted the boy’s tweet, which used the language of Proverbs 22: 6 in the Bible Founded in 2000, the company has been the owner of numerous advertisements for its weapons to consumers, and Salvador Ramos, the man who carried out the shooting in Uvalde, was one of the consumers. one of the suspect’s AR15-style rifles, made by Daniel Defense, at the school, according to Texas State Sen. John Whitmire, who received information from law enforcement.
CNN has contacted Daniel Defense for comment, but has not received a response.
Daniel Defense prides itself on building its own pieces
Marty Daniel founded his company once he was “bitten by the shooting error,” according to a chronology of the company’s history.
After graduating from Georgia Southern University with a degree in electrical engineering, Daniel opened a business of overhead doors and chimneys. His gun business began because a friend invited him to fire his AR, the site says.
“Every shot he fired filled him with a satisfaction he had never experienced before,” the website states.
In the more than 20 years since its founding, Daniel Defense has been marketed as a company that prides itself on manufacturing “almost every component it sells,” according to its website.
On its “company values” page, the company said that building its own parts “sets us apart from many industry players who basically assemble rather than build their products”.
“We love building big guns,” Marty Daniel said in a 2019 ad.
The NFL would not allow the announcement of Daniel Defense during the Super Bowl
The NFL refused to allow a Daniel Defense ad during Super Bowl XLVIII in 2014 because it promoted guns. The ad focused on a man returning home with his wife and baby.
“I am responsible for their protection, and no one has the right to tell me how to defend them,” says the man in the voice-over ad. “So I chose the most effective tool for the job,” concludes the Daniel Defense logo ad.
Although never aired during the Super Bowl, Marty Daniel turned the rejection into an avalanche of attention.
“Most Super Bowl fans have the same values that we have in Daniel Defense and that is, we believe in protecting our families,” Daniel told Fox News at the time.
Arms control activists argue that the company is targeting younger customers with brushstrokes on pop culture and video game icons. At the same time, Daniel seems to be targeting and focusing his comments on older Americans and gun control.
“The crowd against the Second Amendment is just looking for any excuse to ban guns the way they can,” Daniel told OutdoorHub in 2016.
But the company has moved away from the spotlight after the Uvalde shooting.
Daniel Defense did not attend the National Rifle Association convention last week. It was the first annual arms lobby meeting in three years due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Daniel Defense will not be attending the NRA meeting due to the horrific tragedy in Uvalde, Texas, where one of our products was used criminally,” Steve Reed, the company’s vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “We believe this week is not the right time to promote our products in Texas at the NRA meeting.”
The company’s exhibit was replaced by a popcorn cart and a baked potato parador.
CNN’s David Goldman contributed to this report.