Maker of gun used in Uvalde school shooting, Daniel Defense, pulls out of NRA event in Houston
The company that manufactured the rifle used in a school shooting in Texas on Tuesday has canceled its plan to appear at an upcoming National Rifle Association meeting.
"Daniel Defense is not attending the National Rifle Association (‘NRA’) meeting due to the horrifying tragedy in Uvalde, Texas where one of our products was criminally misused," Steve Reed, Vice President of Marketing for Daniel Defense, told Fox News Digital in a statement Thursday. "We believe this week is not the appropriate time to be promoting our products in Texas at the NRA meeting."
It was revealed this week during a press conference from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott that 18-year-old Salvador Ramos used a Daniel Defense DDM4 V7 rifle that retails for just under $2,000 when he opened fire at Robb Elementary School on Tuesday and killed 19 schoolchildren and 2 faculty members.
"We are deeply saddened by the tragic events in Texas this week," Daniel Defense said in a statement at the time. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and community devastated by this evil act. As reported in Governor Abbott’s press conference, it is our understanding that the firearm used in the attack was manufactured by Daniel Defense. We will cooperate with all federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities in their investigations. We will keep the families of the victims and the entire Uvalde community in our thoughts and our prayers."
Several high profile figures including singers Larry Gatlin and Don McLean have canceled their appearances at the NRA conference following Tuesday's shooting.
"To my fellow sad Americans—I cannot, in good conscience, perform at the NRA convention in Houston this weekend," Gatlin said in a statement. "While I agree with most of the positions held by the NRA, I have come to believe that, while background checks would not stop every madman with a gun, it is at the very least a step in the right direction toward trying to prevent the kind of tragedy we saw this week in Uvalde— in my beloved, weeping TEXAS."
Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at the event and said earlier this week he is still planning on attending.
"America needs real solutions and real leadership in this moment, not politicians and partisanship," Trump wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday. "That's why I will keep my longtime commitment to speak in Texas at the NRA Convention and deliver an important address to America. In the meantime, we all continue to pray for the victims, their families, and four our entire nation – we are all in this together."
News of Daniel Defense's exit from the NRA conference in Houston, Texas comes as some have called for the gun manufacturer to be sued in connection with the shooting.
"I can't say, you know, with certainty what the families will decide to do, but there is an option to sue," Jillian Bliss, a Texas attorney with a background in constitutional law and matters of state and federal government, told Fox News Digital. "However, under Texas law, it is a little bit more difficult than the situation with Sandy Hook to sue a gun manufacturer."
Past shootings – most notably the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Dec. 2012 – have led to lawsuits that have met with mixed results. The Sandy Hook shooting lawsuit against Remington Arms caused the manufacturer to file for bankruptcy protection in 2018, leaving Chapter 11 and re-entering it in 2020 even as gun sales soared.
The National Rifle Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News' Peter Aitken contributed to this report.