How a gun manufacturer accused of marketing to mass shooters helped shape West Virginia gun laws

On April 22, 2022, Raymond Spencer settled into a fifth-story apartment across from the Edmund Burke School in Washington, D.C. With a rifle resting on a tripod, he took aim at the secondary school just as classes concluded for the day. 

Spencer shot a 12-year-old girl leaving the school. He hit a security guard who tried to usher students to cover. He sprayed two cars, with parents waiting inside, with bullets.  

In one car, bullets struck Karen Lowy, who was waiting for her daughter. She exited her car. First responders found her lying in the street. She, along with the other victims, all survived. 

A month earlier, AR-15 manufacturer Daniel Defense LLC, the maker of one of the rifles used in the attack, posted an advertisement on Instagram depicting a car in the crosshairs of a rifle scope.

“Rooftop ready,” the post read.

A year later, Lowy sued Daniel Defense, another in a line of legal actions to curb mass shootings by suing gun companies based on marketing practices. 

Lowy’s lawyers argued that the gunmaker intentionally used paramilitary-style imagery and video games to market its products to disturbed young men and teenage boys.

The shooter at Edmund Burke School, the lawsuit said, used Daniel Defense’s “weapons just as they encouraged him to in their marketing, targeting Lowy’s car with a scope, and riddling it with as many bullets as he could.” 

More than 1,400 people have died in mass shootings since 2000, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assault rifles have become one of the most common weapons used in these incidents, according to The Violence Project, a research center at Hamline University studying mass shootings. 

And AR-15s have been used in America’s deadliest mass shootings. 

In 2022, an 18-year-old man barged into a classroom at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. Using his newly purchased AR-15 from Daniel Defense, he shot and killed 19 fourth-grade students. 

In Congress and in multiple courts around the country, Daniel Defense LLC has been criticized as partly to blame for the nation’s crisis of gun violence.

But many West Virginians love their guns. The state has among the highest rates of household gun ownership in the country, according to surveys conducted by the Rand Corporation. 

We cherish time spent hunting with family. Guns make us feel more safe and secure at home.

Lawmakers in West Virginia saw a chance to help gun company founder Marty Daniel shield his company and others in the industry from legal liability. They invited him to the state Capitol. Gov. Patrick Morrisey met with him. Lawmakers quickly moved to pass the sort of laws Daniel and other gunmakers wanted.

In doing so, the Mountain State’s political leaders ensured some firearms manufacturers could protect their growing profits and avoid being held accountable by victims of gun violence.

As lawyers for Monica Gallegos, a mother of one of the children killed at Uvalde, noted in a lawsuit, communities don’t know when the next mass shooting will happen. 

Gallegos’ lawsuit described how the day of a school shooting starts like any other — with the morning rush to get kids off to school. And then it ends watching the television, being thankful it didn’t happen in your backyard. 

“And then one day it is at your child’s school, in your community. And it is your child who has been destroyed beyond recognition by a troubled, isolated, Call-of-Duty-playing boy wielding an AR-15.” 

YouTube lawmaking

In 2022, Elias Coop-Gonzalez won his first election for the House of Delegates seat representing Randolph County, at the age of 20. As a conservative Republican, he made guns a prominent part of his campaign and, since winning, his agenda. 

“I am a gun nut, maybe a nut in general,” Coop-Gonzalez said. “I watch gun videos on YouTube all the time, about gunsmithing, the history of guns, different kinds of guns and things like that.” 

One of his favorite YouTube personalities is James Reeves, an insurance company lawyer who also represents shooting defendants who plead self-defense. He also contributes to The Firearms Blog, a website that reports on the gun industry and reviews new guns on the market. In May 2024, Reeves released a YouTube video entitled “Why Daniel Defense may be in Trouble.” 

In the video, Reeves said that new lawsuits had been filed against Daniel Defense in connection with the Uvalde shooting.

While federal law mostly shielded the firearms industry from being sued if a gun was used in a crime, the industry could be sued for its marketing practices. 

In December 2012, a 20-year-old man opened fire in a classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary, killing 20 children and six staff members. Families turned to lawmakers for help. Then-West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a lifelong National Rifle Association member, proposed a bill to tighten background checks, but the gun lobby in D.C. successfully blocked it, as they have with most gun control legislation. 

Families from Sandy Hook also turned to the courts. But federal law had, since the passage of the Protection of Lawful Commerce of Arms Act in 2005, prevented most lawsuits against gun manufacturers from moving forward, saying they weren’t responsible for the illegal use of their products.

For 14 years, that federal law protected gun manufacturers from liability for gun violence. That’s why a judge dismissed the suit brought by Lowy, the mother shot in a car waiting to pick up her child from a school in Washington, D.C.

The families’ litigations against Remington and its then-subsidiary Bushmaster, the makers of the AR-15 fired in the Sandy Hook massacre, found a chink in that legal armor. In 2019, the Connecticut Supreme Court said the state’s marketing laws prohibited advertising the unlawful use of products. 

Remington and Bushmaster had advertised in its catalog a close-up picture of the rifle with the statement “Forces of opposition, bow down, you are single-handedly outnumbered.” Another ad extolled the “military proven performance of the rifle.”

Josh Koskoff, the lawyer in that case, said federal law was never supposed to shield gun manufacturers from all liability.

“The way this gun company, or really gun conglomerate at the time, was marketing their AR-15s, particularly through the Bushmaster brand, was patently illegal under Connecticut law,” he said.

Remington later settled with the families for $73 million. 

In his video, Reeves explained how the ruling set a legal precedent that could hurt Daniel’s company. 

“I think at the end of the day, it’s going to take legislative action to close up this loophole,” Reeves said. 

After watching the video, Coop-Gonzalez said he realized he could do something about it. The delegate left a voicemail at Reeves’ law office. Later, Reeves called back. 

Over the next few months, the two exchanged emails and calls, resulting in a bill that makes it extremely difficult to sue gun companies in West Virginia on the basis of marketing. 

It isn’t enough to prove that the gun company advertised unlawful use of the gun.

It isn’t enough to prove that there was a connection between the advertising and the illegal action.

It isn’t enough to prove that the gun company willfully and knowingly violated a law relating to the marketing of firearms or ammunition.

Even if a person could prove all of those things, they would still have to prove that the company marketed the gun to people who weren’t legally allowed to have it, like minors and felons.

If a plaintiff can’t prove all of these, the bill said the suit should be automatically tossed out. 

During a February 2025 House of Delegates committee hearing, Coop-Gonzalez warned that lawsuits like those filed by Uvalde victims could put a company like Daniel Defense out of business. 

Coop-Gonzalez said he saw gun lobbyist Art Thomm’s head pop up across the room when he mentioned Daniel Defense. After the meeting, the two spoke for a few minutes. Thomm told Coop-Gonzalez he knew Marty Daniel. 

So they invited Daniel to Charleston. 

Mr. Daniel Zooms to Washington 

Daniel built his company on refining the ArmaLite 15 rifle, better known as the AR-15. The firearm was originally developed in the late 1950s for the U.S. military. 

Thanks to its relatively small rounds, it was light to carry and had little recoil, making it easier to shoot accurately. 

Daniel, a Georgia garage door installer, became interested in the rifle in the late 1990s after taking up target shooting. He wanted to modify his own gun and eventually started a company to sell accessories. By 2009, he started making his own rifles for sale, almost entirely based on the AR-15 design. 

Families and survivors of mass shootings have pointed out that Daniel Defense hasn’t marketed its rifles to sportsmen or target shooters. Instead, it focuses its advertisements on showing its rifles being used in military exercises, with men in combat gear lining up in stairwells. 

They’ve used scantily clad models to sell their guns. They’ve had the rapper Post Malone show off a rifle. And the gun is intertwined with the Call of Duty video game franchise, prominently displayed on its loading screens. 

On July 22, 2022, just two months after one of his rifles was used to kill a classroom of fourth graders at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Daniel was invited to testify before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, then controlled by the Democrats.

Lawmakers on that committee called the hearing to discuss how the gun industry profited off the sale of the AR-15, raking in over $1 billion between just five companies in the previous decade. The committee found gun companies like Daniel Defense LLC had appealed to children and young men in order to pump up their profits. 

On the day Daniel and an executive from Ruger fielded questions about their marketing practices, families of the Uvalde victims were in attendance, watching. 

Appearing via Zoom, Daniel said he wanted to work with lawmakers to find a solution to gun violence. 

“Lately, many Americans, myself included, have witnessed an erosion of personal responsibility in our country and in our culture. Mass shootings were all but unheard of just a few decades ago,” he said. 

During the hearing, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, focused on the advertisement Daniel Defense had posted on Instagram. The text in the post said “Rooftop ready.” 

“The tweet shows what appears to be a night vision gun scope trained on a parked car at street level. Mr. Daniel, this tweet is not depicting anyone hunting for wildlife, is it?” Krishnamoorthi asked. 

“No, sir. This—” Daniel said, before being interrupted. 

“And it is not depicting anyone acting in self-defense against someone attacking them, correct?” the congressman said. 

“That remains in the eyes of the viewer, sir,” Daniel said. 

Throughout the hearing, Democratic lawmakers continued to show Daniel Defense advertisements and question Daniel about his marketing practices.

West Virginia lawmakers invite Daniel to Charleston 

On March 12, 2025, Daniel was again invited to testify before a group of politicians. But this time it was in Charleston. 

Inside the West Virginia House Committee on the Judiciary room, delegates were discussing the law introduced by Coop-Gonzalez, the Firearms Liability Clarification Act. Del. Mike Hornby, R-Berkeley, asked if anyone from the gun industry could come and testify. 

Daniel was the only person who testified that day. 

Hornby had one question for the founder: Why is this bill important? 

“This bill is important to us because we’re facing a lot of challenges with frivolous lawsuits,” Daniel said. 

Daniel described how Nevada had a law that protected firearms makers from lawsuits for any crime where their gun was used, and he said it had helped his company have a lawsuit dismissed. 

He didn’t mention the suit was in connection with the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, where a man killed 60 people by firing on a country music concert from a hotel room. It is the deadliest mass shooting to date in American history.

Without mentioning Uvalde by name, he told the committee his company was the defendant in 15 lawsuits in the Lone Star State. 

“Why is that? That’s because they’re trying to put firearms companies out of business. It’s not about justice for anyone,” he said. “They can’t take away our Second Amendment without a constitutional amendment, so there’s just another way to get in.” 

Koskoff, the lawyer representing Uvalde victims’ families, told Mountain State Spotlight that accusations of frivolous lawsuits and trying to put the gun industry out of business, as Daniel leveled in the committee hearing, are very common. 

“This is a classic attack by the industry against lawsuits. Industry forgets about the part that the only reason they care about lawsuits is there is cash. Of course, no industry wants to be responsible for their products, because if they’re held responsible, then that means they have less cash,” Koskoff said. 

In the committee room in Charleston in March, Del. Bryan Ward, R-Hardy, asked Daniel if the lawsuits were similar to someone suing Chevrolet if someone used one of their cars as a getaway vehicle, or ran someone over. 

“That’s the best way to describe it,” Daniel said. “I don’t think there’s a law against suing Chevrolet for that. But nobody does it because they’re not trying to put Chevrolet out of business.” 

In less than 20 minutes, the committee passed the bill. 

Daniel, along with Coop-Gonzalez, Thomm and NRA lobbyist Taylor McKee went around the Capitol visiting lawmakers. Daniel took a picture with a few on the House floor. 

Coop-Gonzalez, who said he admires Daniel’s guns like he does Lamborghinis, called the founder a “humble, good, godly man.”

The gun lobbyist, the founder and the governor
 

Following his appearance in the House Judiciary Committee, Daniel, accompanied by Thomm and McKee, went to the governor’s office. 

“The governor has always been a very pro-gun guy,” said Thomm, who also served on Morrisey’s transition team. 

Over his 12 years as the state’s attorney general, Morrisey signed on to multiple lawsuits to overturn restrictions on high-capacity magazines, pistols and semiautomatic rifles. He also took the lead in suing the federal government on a federal rule banning pistol braces, which affix a stock to a pistol to allow somebody to fire it like a rifle.

Some of these suits would defend the use of guns for basic self-defense, while others would continue the proliferation of military-grade weapons.  

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The gun lobbyists and Daniel chatted for a while in Morrisey’s office. Thomm said he did a lot of the talking. Then the governor asked if there was anything he could do to help. 

There was.

Just a month earlier, Daniel told lawmakers in Georgia he lost $2 million suing banks that refused to give him a loan. 

With Daniel listening, Thomm asked the governor for a bill that would punish banks for de-banking the firearms industry.

Following the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, where a 19-year-old man killed 17 people with an AR-15 made by Smith & Wesson, major banks announced they would cut back on doing business with firearms companies unless they changed their policies. 

Bank of America announced it wouldn’t do business with makers of AR-15s. Citigroup said it would cut ties unless companies quit producing high-capacity magazines. 

Starting in 2021, Texas, Wyoming, Idaho, Arkansas, Alabama, Montana, North Dakota and Utah passed laws requiring their states to stop doing business with banks that decline to do business with gun manufacturers on nonfinancial grounds.

The day after his meeting with Daniel and Thomm, Morrisey asked lawmakers to introduce that legislation in the House of Delegates. Four days later, he asked lawmakers to introduce an identical bill in the Senate. 

A few days later, lobbyist Jason Webb pitched the bill to the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. He told them more gun industry-friendly laws could bring gun manufacturers to the state. So far, no gun manufacturer has announced it is relocating to the state. 

Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, asked McKee, the NRA Lobbyist, if there was a concrete example he could point to if a constituent asks him why he voted for this law. 

“When we had Mr. Daniel in here speaking on this, about how he was de-banked and other issues with financial institutions, I believe he said it was a couple million dollars to his detriment,” McKee said. 

Lawmakers passed the House version in the last days of the session with little discussion. 

Citigroup rescinded its policy in 2025, stating it was in response to the new regulatory environment under the Trump Administration. Bank of America hasn’t said why it walked back its policy in 2024. 

Behind the counter 

On April 25, 2025, Morrisey gathered with some Eastern Panhandle Republicans and supporters at the Cacapon Resort State Park shooting range. 

Morrisey was there to sign the state’s new gun laws.

“West Virginians know that our rights come from God, not the government,” Morrisey said. “And it’s our job as elected officials to safeguard those liberties.” 

Morrisey’s press office did not answer questions about Daniel’s influence on the laws West Virginia passed. Instead, a spokesperson provided a statement from the governor about his support for guns in general. 

“My administration will never step on that constitutionally recognized right, and we will always stand with the law-abiding men and women who exercise it responsibly,” Morrisey wrote in a statement. 

According to the men who pushed and supported these bills, the liberty they’ve protected is the freedom to buy guns.

“This is more of a behind-the-counter type stuff. It protects your ability to continue to purchase firearms, right?” Thomm said. 

The cases in Texas still proceed. There, families are still trying to hold Daniel Defense accountable for the marketing of a rifle that killed their children.

Dr. Roy Guerro, a pediatrician in Uvalde, told Congress that no amount of praying will relieve him from what he saw happen to those children, some of whom were his patients since birth. In his testimony, he described what he saw:

“Two children whose bodies had been pulverized by bullets fired at them, decapitated, whose flesh had been ripped apart, that the only clue as to their identities was blood-spattered cartoon clothes still clinging to them, clinging for life and finding none,” Guerro testified.

The suit, filed by Gallegos, whose 10-year-old daughter was killed in the same massacre, said these shootings are all too common in the country. 

“It is long past the time when anyone — least of all a gun company — can claim surprise after an adolescent like the Uvalde Shooter uses an AR-15 to massacre children and teachers.”