Gunmaker Daniel Defense Hit With First Post-Uvalde Legal Action – Opinion

After the Uvalde massacre that killed 19 children and their teachers in May at Cobb Elementary School, Texas, it was only natural that some would attempt to hold the criminals responsible through the legal system. NPR reported that this process started just one week later.

Daniel Defense of Savannah, Georgia has begun court proceedings against a Savannah speech pathology employee who was hiding during the Robb Elementary murders on May 24, 2022.

This is the first legal action reported in response to the mass shooting that resulted in the deaths of 21 children and 2 adults. Although it is not an actual lawsuit, this filing will determine whether the gun manufacturer could be sued regarding how firearms are promoted.

“They’re marketing to people who it’s not reasonable should have guns … and we think that may be young people,” said attorney Don Flanary.

RedState reported that gun manufacturer Daniel Defense received flak during the NRA’s national convention in Houston. Word had spread that one AR-style rifle sold by the company to Uvalde shooter was made. That vicious attack by NBC News was a blatant, joint assault effort of media and gun control activists, something which I’ll expand on in another piece.

One intriguing excerpt from NPR’s story, which readers might find contains quite a coincidence, shows that this isn’t the only shooting the Cobb Elementary clerk is looking to get Daniel Defense on the record about:

In court documents filed Thursday in the 38th Judicial District, the clerk, Emilia “Amy” Marin, 56, petitioned the court to force the company to sit for a deposition, as well as to produce materials related to its website, profits, lobbying, sales and marketing of AR-15-style rifles like the one used at the shooting.

…

Marin’s petition also requests information regarding the four Daniel Defense AR-15-style rifles found in the hotel room of the 2017 Las Vegas shooter. According to her attorney, they are interested in examining whether or not the gun manufacturer changed its marketing strategy after their guns were used for this crime.

This is not the first lawsuit after Uvalde. These things will unfold over time.