Daniel Defense is an arms manufacturer, founded in 2002 by Marty Daniel in Savannah, Georgia. Following substantial growth, in 2009 Daniel Defense expanded and moved into a new manufacturing facility in Black Creek, Georgia where it is now based. It has also expanded to a second facility in Ridgeland, South Carolina. Daniel Defense was featured in Inc Magazine's Top 5000 list in 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Products
Daniel Defense manufactures firearms and firearm accessories including custom variants of rifles, such as the AR-15 rifle and M4 carbine, advanced rail systems, custom upper receivers, and advanced barrels. Daniel Defense designed and currently manufactures the Rail Interface System II for the SOPMOD Block II rifle, combining various improvements over the original RIS as requested by US Special Operations Command. These features include the ability to free-float an M203 grenade launcher on a quick-detach mount, the invention of a stronger attachment mechanism between the rail and the barrel nut/upper receiver, as well as a full-length handguard to fit over the new rifle's redesigned gas block. The longer length and greater rigidity of the RIS II facilitates the use of forward-mounted laser emitters such as the AN/PEQ-15, which on older rifles could crowd the user's hand placement and lose zero when a less rigid handguard was stressed. The RIS II replaced the original RIS designed by Knight's Armament Company, which had to accommodate the front sight post of the older M4A1 rifles.
In December 2013, Daniel Defense was involved in controversy when it submitted an advertisement to several local Fox stations for broadcast during Super Bowl XLVIII. The stations rejected the advertisement, citing NFL advertising policy which states: “Firearms, ammunition or other weapons are prohibited; however, stores that sell firearms and ammunition will be permitted, provided they sell other products and the ads do not mention firearms, ammunition or other weapons.” Daniel Defense responded to the rejection by criticizing the NFL's policy and Fox's decision, asserting that its ad did not contain any firearms, and that it also sells outdoor equipment, not only firearms, and accordingly falls within the exceptions in the policy. The NFL responded to the claims by denying any involvement in the rejection of the advertisement, but it did confirm that its policy does ban advertisements with firearms in them and in the end the advertisement was not accepted.
