Dec 4, 2013 2 min read

A Georgia gun manufacturer thought it had met all the requirements to place a commercial in the Super Bowl broadcast in February. Fox, which is airing the game and takes its marching orders from the National Football League, thought otherwise.

The NFL advertising policy prohibits ads for “firearms, ammunition or other weapons,” but it allows commercials for companies that sell guns, so long as they also sell other products, and provided the advertisements do not actually feature any images of guns. Think big sporting goods companies, or Walmart.

With that as a template, Daniel Defense, which primarily deals in guns but also sells a variety of clothing and outdoors gear, crafted a minute-long ad featuring a returning serviceman solemnly intoning, “The safety of my family is my highest priority. I am responsible for their protection. No one has the right to tell me how to defend them.” The company also was willing to replace an assault rifle logo at the end of the ad with an American flag.

Disregarding the reality that we do, in fact, already have common-sense restrictions on how the ex-Marine can defend his family – sorry, pal, you can’t stockpile shoulder-fired rocket launchers – it’s a rather forgettable, innocuous piece of fluff on behalf of the weapons industry and, specifically, Daniel Defense. We really see no reason to infringe on the company’s First Amendment rights to tout what it sees as Second Amendment rights. Why not allow Daniel to run its ad, so long as organizations that favor improved gun controls are allowed to buy air time to make their points?

Understandably, the NFL is more comfortable with its showcase game being interspersed with images of draft horses, puppy dogs and people stuffing themselves with taco chips, but it appears to be going overboard in its attempt to skirt controversy.

Whatever the case, this has all worked out well for Daniel Defense. The fight over the ad has been featured on a wide range of television programs and Internet sites, and the commercial already is attracting tens of thousands of hits on YouTube. And all without paying the freight for a Super Bowl ad, which costs about $4 million for every 30 seconds of air time.