Congressman Krishnamoorthi Confronts Gun Manufacturers On Ads Promoting Violence Mirroring Highland Park Massacre, Condemns Radical Republican Calls To Defund and Abolish the ATF

WASHINGTON - In today's Committee on Oversight and Reform hearing examining the practices and profits of gun manufacturers, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi questioned Marty Daniel, Chief Executive Officer of Daniel Defense, LLC, about the gun manufacturer's inflammatory advertisement of a precision rifle on social media, featuring an image of a sniper rifle on a rooftop trained on a parked car. The Congressman highlighted the image's connection to the Highland Park mass shooting, which occurred just miles from his district, in which the shooter fired on victims from a rooftop, and pressed Mr. Daniel on why his company would directly advocate for using Daniel Defense rifles in long-range, cold-blooded murder, as the image clearly depicts. In response, Mr. Daniel tried to claim the shooter in the advertisement could be acting in self-defense, despite the clear absence of a threat posed by the parked car on the street several floors below the shooter.

The Daniel Defense tweet promoting their product's capacity to murder unsuspecting victims from distant rooftops

In addition to his questioning of Mr. Daniel, Congressman Krishnamoorthi also addressed an image posted to Facebook and Instagram by the Minority's witness, Antonia Okafor, National Director of Women's Outreach for Gun Owners of America, in which she calls for defunding and abolishing of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The Congressman inquired as to why Ms. Okafor would want to defund and abolish the ATF in light of the critical role the agency has played in saving lives during previous mass shootings, such as the one in Highland Park. Without the ATF National Tracing Center, the Highland Park shooter would not have been tracked down and apprehended nearly as quickly as he was, potentially putting even more lives at risk.

Antonia Okafor's Facebook post calling for the defunding and abolish of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)

"It's deeply concerning to see advertisements by gun manufacturers such as Daniel Defense include violent imagery that directly mirror the horrors that we've seen occur in real life with mass shootings, like the tragedy in Highland Park," said Congressman Krishnamoorthi. "The image used by Daniel Defense clearly and directly suggests using the company's rifles for cold-blooded murder. In some courtrooms, this could be considered illegal advertising possibly inciting violence. I hope that today's hearing galvanizes the appropriate authorities to investigate this matter further."

Footage of the Congressman's question line can be found here.