Sons of Guns

***Sons of Guns*** is an American reality television series hosted by Will Hayden, the founder and owner of Red Jacket Firearms LLC. The series was produced by Jupiter Entertainment and aired for five seasons on the Discovery Channel from January 26, 2011 to May 16, 2014, and was cancelled afterwards when Hayden was arrested on various sexual charges.

## Synopsis

The series centers on Red Jacket Firearms LLC, a Louisiana-based business that manufactures and sells custom firearms to law enforcement, security firms, and private collectors. Will Hayden, the founder and owner of the shop, worked the place while his daughter and business partner Stefanie managed the office.

The show practices a degree of self-censorship and safety-consciousness in a much similar manner to *MythBusters*. Each episode begins with a staff member (usually Will) warning viewers not to try anything demonstrated on the show. The crew also reminds the audience not to try any of the performed demonstrations during scenes of catastrophic failure. It was also made to avoid showing specific details of how weapon modifications or fabrications are performed.

## Crew

* Will Hayden - owner
* Stephanie Hayden - co-owner/Will's daughter
* Kris Ford - shop manager
* Joe Meaux - chief operating officer
* Charlie Watson - forensic firearms expert/marketing manager

### Recurring clients and experts

* Glenn Harrison - antiques collector/history enthusiast
* Barry Borum - gun manufacturer (also assists the crew in some builds as an outside contractor)
* David P. Michaels - flamethrower expert
* Ira Sellers - big-bore rifles, heavy-weapons expert
* Jim Fuller - rifle dynamics
* Billy Cho - rifle dynamics
* Chris Ledford - alias the "King of Guns"
* Natalie Foster - girl's guide to guns

### Former crew

* Vince Buckles - former shop manager/head gunsmith who resigned at the end of Season 2. He briefly returned for parts of Season 3 as an outside contractor, and in Season 4 is featured having opened his own gun shop (Mesa Kinetic Research) near Red Jacket.
* Glenn "Flem" Fleming - former shop welder, who departed to open Acadania Gunworks near Lafayette, Louisiana, and his own YouTube channel, The Gunners Vault. Flem and his team still appear as outside contractors.

## Episodes

Main article: *List of Sons of Guns episodes*

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5

## Cancellation

On August 11, 2014, Hayden was arrested and charged with molestation of a juvenile and aggravated crimes against nature, and subsequently charged with rape of a child based on the victim's statements. Hayden's oldest daughter also accused him of rape, telling police that he had raped her when she was twelve years old, twenty-two years prior, having come forward after the allegations against Hayden were made. In September, Hayden's eldest daughter, business partner and co-star Stephanie, went from defending her father to changing her claims to also accusing him of aggravated rape. Stephanie came forward when the allegations against Hayden were made and told police that Hayden had raped and abused her when she was twelve years old, exactly twenty-two years prior.

The accusations and charges led to *Sons of Guns* being abruptly cancelled on August 27, 2014, and the Discovery Channel completely removed all presence of the series, worldwide and in perpetuity, from its website and other cable providers.

On April 7, 2017, Hayden was convicted on two counts of aggravated rape and one count of forcible rape. On May 13, 2017, he was sentenced to two life sentences plus forty years in prison to be served consecutively in prison for rape of two girls between ages of 11 and 13. On July 12, 2017, Hayden was sentenced with three life sentences and transferred to Angola's Louisiana State Penitentiary. He is not eligible for any parole, probation, or suspension of sentence, and will spend the rest of his life in custody.

## Home media

Main article: *Sons of Guns (videography)*