Gunmaker Daniel Defense faces new outrage over advertisement featuring child

The maker of the shot used in the Texas elementary school shooting is facing fresh outrage over an advertisement featuring a young child posted days before the killings.

Georgia-based Daniel Defense, which makes the gun used in the Uvalde mass shooting, posted an ad on May 16 showing a toddler holding a rifle, with the caption: Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. The child, wearing a shirt reading Rascal, is cross-legged with the rifle in both hands as a partially visible adult points at him.

Daniel Defense is one of the largest privately owned rifle manufacturers in the US. Marty Daniel founded a company that has been known for its controversial ads that have broken industry standards.

A video from 2014 involved a fictional Marine talking about defending his wife and baby using Daniel Defense products. It was snubbed for a televised slot during the Super Bowl.

The company's social media ads often blend Bible verses with images of their guns. In an Easter-themed post on April 17th of this year, the caption He is Risen! Under an image of a cross, atop a rifle, atop an open Bible, ran beneath an image of a cross.

Daniel Defense weapons have been involved in a mass shooting, and it is not the first time that they have been involved in a mass shooting. In the months before that attack, Daniel Defense had acknowledged the impact of high-profile shootings on gun sales.

Daniel told Forbes that the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 sparked a lot of sales. It was a horrible event and we don't use those kinds of terrible things to drive sales but when people start talking about gun control, they have this fear and they go out and buy guns. Gunmaker stock prices have gone up after Uvalde, according to Fortune. Sturm, Ruger Company's shares rose by 5.8% and Smith Wesson is up 10%.

Daniel Defense released a statement after the shootings in Uvalde, saying: We are deeply saddened by the tragic events in Texas this week. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and community devastated by this evil act. The company has locked its Twitter account, limited comments on its Facebook page and pulled out of Friday's National Rifle Association conference in Houston.