But even with powerful personalities, the selection process didn’t move fast. It dragged on for almost two years. Finally, in 2009, Hayden received an offer from Discovery, and work began on the show.

The eight-month filming process was fraught with challenges, misconceptions and spent cartridge cases. The Red Jacket crew had to become familiar with television production, and the producers had to become comfortable around guns very quickly. It was a work in progress.

“We had very few gun people at the beginning of production,” Buckles pointed out. “But a lot of them are gun people now. When they came here we had a lot of people that had never held a gun, heard a gun or seen one fired before.”

But on January 26, around three years from the time that Red Jacket mailed in its initial video, Discovery’s “Sons of Guns” made its debut. The show hit the air with a bang, and the Red Jacket motto, “If you can dream it, we can build it,” was put to the test.

In the 16-episode lineup in season one viewers saw the making of some of the most innovative (and unusual) firearms on the market for civilians, contractors and law enforcement officers. The Red Jacket crew refurbished a World War II flamethrower and built an internal suppressor for the AK-47 platform, a suppressor for the Saiga 12 shotgun, a twin M16 gun mount that could fire hundreds of rounds per minute, a 15-tube rocket launcher to combat pirates overseas, and a remote-controlled machine gun.

Along the way, millions of viewers became hooked on Red Jacket’s brand of business. The show was a runaway success, dominating the Wednesday night time slot for Discovery.

But there were some initial criticisms of the show’s failure to accurately depict the extensive process required for a customer to purchase certain firearms under the National Firearms Act (NFA) of 1934. Some of the NFA or “class III” guns sold at Red Jacket are the most heavily regulated firearms in the country.

“Paperwork doesn’t make good TV,” Hayden said. “But people need to understand this show is about my family and the people gathered around me. We run a business here, and we run it the proper, legal way.” Next season will feature more explanation of NFA rules.

Despite the reactionary blend of criticism and praise heaped upon the show at the outset, “Sons of Guns” has had a tangible effect on how firearms and firearm owners are portrayed.

“Honestly, we are just everyday people,” Hayden said. “We are your neighbors. We are family types. We work, we go home, we take care of our kids, and this is what we do. And we like to show that to the non-gun-owning world.”

In the six months since the show made its debut, the RTS-ZK-SD integrally suppressed AK-47 in 7.62x39 mm and the RTS-ZK-S/S-12 suppressed shotgun have been among Red Jacket’s best sellers.

Season two of “Sons of Guns” is scheduled to air in July, but no matter how long “Sons of Guns” stays on the air, one fact will remain: It all centers on the boss. Take the pulse of RJF and you’ll find it beats with the heart of its founder.