Faith, family and weapons: the pillars of a rifle manufacturer, the protagonist of massacres in the United States

His personal and business philosophy combines three words: faith, family and firearms.

Thus Marty Daniel, founder and executive director of Daniel Defense, a highly successful weapons manufacturer, describes himself as a provocateur specializing in ridicule attempts to regulate sales of those lethal devices.

On May 16, eight days before the Uvalde school massacre in Texas, this factory’s Twitter account posted a photo and comment queuing up.

In the image we see a child, sitting on the ground, with a rifle in his arms and his gaze fixed on that object. An adult points his finger, emphasizing the importance of the rifle. Next to it is a charger, one of those with good capacity.

“Educate the child in his own way and when he is older, he will not go away”, reads the text.

Salvador Ramos turned 18 on the same day and gave himself two model AR-15 rifles from this manufacturer. On May 24, he left one inside the car. The other was used in his attack on Robb Primary School in Uvalde with the tragic toll of 19 boys and two teachers, as well as the attacker himself.

Rifles and kills

Opening the company’s website, which is headquartered in Black Creek, Georgia, reveals a statement.

“We are deeply saddened by the recent tragic events in Texas. Our thoughts and prayers are with families and communities devastated by this evil act, “reads the statement, which vanished and an offer appeared – under Daniel Defense’s motto:” Freedom, passion, precision ” – in which he advertises: “Buy now, pay later.” And, furthermore, he is tempted by the opportunity to win $ 15,000.

There’s no excuse, no more than when a shooter killed 58 people on the Las Vegas Strip in October 2017. From a hotel window, he opened fire with his DDM4 on country music festival attendees. “Thoughts and prayers”, nothing more.

Within days, in November, 59-year-old Marty Daniel thought he had gone too far. Another of his guns killed 26 people in a church in Sutherland Springs, the largest massacre in Texas history.

Daniel supported federal law to strengthen controls (criminal background and mental health) when selling a gun. His customers were outraged by that attitude. They said this law was a Trojan horse for gun control and the first step in confiscating them.

business is business, and the businessman took a radical turn. “I am with you and I will fight for our rights,” he made clear in his rectification of him.

young customers

respected. Your trading strategy is effective. Their sales grew in part by targeting young customers like Ramos, who bought his rifles directly from Daniel Defense. This family-owned business – Cindy, his wife, is the other stronghold – emerges as a pioneer in an aggressive style of arms sales and marketing that pushes its narrative to the limit.

Its advertisements often recall popular video games like Call of Duty – which Ramos was a fan of – and feature Star Wars characters and Santa Claus with messages intended to engage teens.

Let’s not forget that, as in Uvalde or in the previous Buffalo massacre (New York), the alleged perpetrators had just turned 18 and both were able to legally purchase their rifles. Six of the deadliest shootings recorded in the United States since 2018 were carried out by young people aged 21 and under, which means a change from what has happened in previous decades.

Daniel Defense was one of the first companies to adopt the obtaining model Buying military equipment is as simple as placing an order on Amazon.

Daniel built his company from the ground up and positioned it as a leader among the top 25 firearms manufacturers.

His company name appears in large bold letters above the scoreboard of the new football stadium in Pooler, his place of residence, on the outskirts of the city of Savannah.

record sales

Like other producers, have fun a period of prosperity, directly proportional to the killings. They sold around 19.9 million weapons in 2021, the second best year, behind only 22.8 million in 2020, a period of pandemic uncertainty and racial upheaval.

In the Pooler press, Marty Daniel confessed in 2016 that he got, after a flop, a second chance at Georgia Southern University and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Technical Engineering.

He opened a custom garage door business. He hired Cindy as a secretary and married her in 2005.

In fact, it’s all golf’s fault. Daniel loves the sport, but it has only caused him frustration.

“If you’re not good at golf, come and shoot,” advised a friend. I liked it. He became passionate about shooting, which gave him more satisfaction than the ball. He left the gates to make weapons.

Source: The avant-garde

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