CEO of Bryan-based Daniel Defense defends marketing tactics before House Oversight Committee

Marty Daniel, CEO of Bryan County-based weapons manufacturer Daniel Defense, appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Reform on Wednesday to justify marketing tactics for his company's AR-style semi-automatic rifles, including the DDM4 V7 used by the shooter to kill 19 fourth-graders and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas in May.

Daniel was one of two CEOs of the five leading manufacturers to accept the summons by committee chairwoman Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, who called the hearing after mass shootings occurred 10 days apart in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, in which the shooters used AR-15-style rifles. Since then, another shooting happened during a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois. Among the three shootings, 38 people died.

"The gun industry has flooded our neighborhoods, our schools, even our churches and synagogues, and gotten rich doing it," Maloney said in her opening statement.

A report released by the committee revealed the five major gun manufacturers generated more than $1 billion in revenue from the sale of assault-style rifles over the past decade. Maloney said Daniel Defense "collected more than half a billion dollars in revenue, selling AR-15-style assault weapons, the weapon of choice in too many mass shootings."

Daniel, who founded the company in 2002, blamed the rise in gun violence on personal responsibility, not on advertising.

"At Daniel Defense, we are, and always will be, committed to the lawful, safe, and responsible use of our products," said Daniel in his opening statement. "Part of being a responsible gun owner means teaching others how to properly and safely use firearms. I believe that a child who is taught firearms safety and who is raised to respect firearms is much less likely to ever use a firearm improperly."

Ryan Busse, a former firearms executive turned Giffords Senior Advisor, offered a counter point, saying, "I believe that offers  especially the freedom to own guns and the freedom to manufacture and sell guns, must be balanced. With a commensurate amount of regulation and responsibility. And I think it's up to legislators, legislators like you and the other folks on this committee to decide that."

The six-hour hearing touched on a number of issues at the heart of the gun violence debate. Some key takeaways and moments:

On gun sales and revenues

Between 2019 and 2021, Maloney said, Daniel Defense tripled its revenue from sales of assault-style rifles.

Daniel verified that about 80 percent of his company's direct-to-consumer sales come from assault-style rifles.

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On safety features

Daniel said his rifles do not have magazine disconnects or fingerprint scanners, features that can prevent accidental deaths. Daniel said he would not consider adding those features on his guns because his customers “are not interested in that.” He said if the owner does not want to fire it, they should not keep a round in the chamber.

On personal responsibility

During the hearing, Maloney asked Daniel if he would accept personal responsibility for his company's role in the Uvalde shooting. "Mr. Daniel, you have sent thoughts and prayers to the victims of Uvalde, but you have never accepted responsibility for selling the weapons that killed these innocent children."

Daniel responded, "Chairwoman Maloney, these acts are committed by murderers and murderers are responsible."

On hate groups and white supremacy

In one testy exchange, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez showed a picture of a Daniel Defense social media post of a man in sniping position, aiming a rifle into the distance. On the lower part of his arm was a symbol donned, according to her, by white supremacists.

She then asked, "As the CEO of Daniel Defense, yes or no, do you believe that members of identify hate groups such as the Proud Boys or Oathkeepers should be able to purchase the AR-15 style rifles that your company sells?"

Daniel did not denounce the groups. Rather, he said, "We're regulated by the ATF through laws which you pass. We are very good at..."

Ocasio-Cortez cut him off, saying she was pressed for time.

On social media marketing

Other representatives showed images Daniel Defense used in its social media posts. One image showed a kid cradling an assault rifle. Another showed a man aiming a rifle from a rooftop.

Maloney asked whether Daniel's intention was to sell military-grade weapons to civilians. "It would seem to imply that you are encouraging people to purchase military weapons and quote, 'Use what they use.' Is that your intent with this, that people should buy military-style weapons and use them like the military uses?"

"This ad is an ad for a rail system that can be added to an AR-15," Daniel testified. "We sell products to the military. We market products to the military, and we market products to civilians, based off of our military heritage, that we provide the best products that can be built that can be bought. We sell those products."

Giffords' Busse explained that "This ad is a common practice in the firearms industry to build up the sort of military congruent credentials of a firearm so that, frankly, oftentimes more young men want to purchase the gun as if they are in are still in or wish to be in the military."

Regarding the above tweet, Virginia Rep. Gerald Edward Connolly, asked Busse about its meaning, a take on Proverbs 22:6.

Busse responded, "It's kind of a distortion of scripture, maybe?"

Connolly responded, "Of course, I don't think they had AR-15's when scripture was written."

Connolly then asked Daniel, "If a child uses one of those guns to shoot himself under the law is your company liable? Or are you liable by law?"

Daniel side-stepped the question, saying, "Well, this is not a question about safety, sir. This is a question about this, the purpose of this ad."

"No, no, no," said the congressman, "I'm asking you a different question right now because again, limited time, I'm asking you a legal question. Are you liable if a child shoots himself with one of those guns?"

Daniel said, "I don't know the answer to that, sir. I'd be happy to talk to my lawyers."

"I would suggest you, respectfully, the answer is no. All right. If a child uses one of those guns to shoot friends, or sibling, are you or your company liable?"

"Congressman, this child in this photo was not being taught to use a gun," Daniel responded.

Connolly concluded, "I'm not, I'm not talking about that just yet. I'm asking a legal question about liability. And the answer again is no because of the law, which protects people like you and your company."

About the image, Busse said, "When Daniel Defense tweeted a picture of a toddler blessed by a Proverbs verse while cradling an AR-15 on the same week as the Uvalde shooter was killing kids with one of their rifles, there was no criticism from industry leadership. But there has been a prestigious reward. The same NSSF [National Shooting Sports Foundation] Board of Governors ... elected Marty Daniel to a coveted seat on that board, a position he still holds today... Sadly, for me, there is no place in the industry for anyone who believes in moderation or responsible regulation. If they did exist, they were frightened into submission or forced out."

On advertising

One congressman pointed out an image on Daniel Defense's social media page which, he thought, depicted "premeditated violence or murder from a rooftop." The tweet showed what appears to be a night vision gun scope trained on a parked car at street level.

The congressman asked, "Mr. Daniel, this tweet is not depicting anyone hunting for wildlife is it?"

Daniel: "No, sir it's not."

The congressman then directed his line of questioning to Busse, saying, "Is [the ad] depicting anyone acting in self defense against someone attacking them correct. That remains in the viewer or I don't see anyone attacking somebody here Mr. Busse. Can you verify that nobody appears to be attacking the person who's supposedly operating this AR-15 or this sniper rifle?"

Busse responded, "Yes sir, that appears to be an ad which in some way glorifies the idea of becoming a sniper with that rifle."

"Mr. Daniel, this advertisement appears to depict premeditated violence or murder from a rooftop. As you know, the Highland Park shooter in Illinois rained down bullets from a rooftop. Eight-year-old Cooper Roberts was paralyzed from the waist down when he was shot from a rooftop. Mr. Daniel, two year old Aiden McCarthy was orphaned when both of his parents were murdered when they were shot from a rooftop. Sir, this tweet appears to suggest a planned murder. And I would respectfully ask authorities and law enforcement to see whether this particular advertisement is even legal."

"Sir, the stated purpose for sourcing that rifle was to defeat body armor on the field of war," Daniel said in defense of the ad.

Daniel was then asked, "I presume you don't want your weapons to be used to harm law enforcement. Will you commit that you will not sell a weapon that tears through bulletproof vests?"

Daniels response: "Congressman, we sell the very best products made for self-defense in the world."

On local accountability

Throughout the hearing, Daniel declined to accept responsibility for manufacturing weapons used in mass shootings, instead blaming it on the individuals who purchase the firearms, and saying local jurisdictions need to hold them accountable.

Robin Kelly, the Democrat U.S. representative from Illinois's 2nd congressional district asked if Daniel Defense had taken any steps to identify problematic patterns of dealers and stop shipments of firearms to dealers that sell a disproportionate number of crime guns.

Daniel said, "We are a federally licensed by the ATF to manufacture firearms, and we sell our products through federal license dealers. And we are very good at our ability to make sure that our firearms are transferred legally through legal dealers. If there is a pipeline of of guns coming into your district, the people who bring those in illegally, that's a crime and those people should get prosecuted."

Daniel also said, "We market our guns to adults, law abiding adults for lawful purposes."

Drew Favakeh is the public safety reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Daniel Defense CEO defends advertising tactics before House panel