Georgia gun manufacturer Daniel Defense will expand a plant in Bryan County and add 120 new jobs, the Governor’s Office announced Thursday.
Daniel Defense will invest $20 million to expand a 38,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Black Creek. The company produces custom-made rifles, parts and gear for consumers and law enforcement. The weapons can start at $1,000 and cost more than $3,000.
Daniel Defense was in the news recently after it announced the National Football League had turned down a “defending your home” commercial the Savannah-area company wanted to run in select markets, including Atlanta, during Super Bowl XLVIII next month.
Company founder Marty Daniel told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution his company wanted to use the Super Bowl ad to introduce itself to a wider market. The 30-second spot, which cost nearly $100,000 to produce, would have cost the company $500,000 to run Feb. 2 in eight markets.
Daniel said a Fox affiliate, relaying the NFL’s decision, told the company the commercial violated the football league’s rules that prohibited ads with “firearms, ammunition or other weapons.”
The ad featured a military veteran walking through his home and lamenting that “a lot has changed” since he’d returned to civilian life, and to his wife and infant child. The vet says his family’s safety is now his highest priority.
The commercial ends with a voice-over and words in big letters: “Daniel Defense. Defending your nation. Defending your home.” Right under the words is the silhouette of a rifle.
Daniel said the company offered to revise the ad but the NFL declined the offer.
The company hopes to employ 284 Georgians by 2018.
About the Author
