
What happens when a Second Amendment startup gets blocked by banks, payment processors, and social media, then still keeps growing? In this Digital Social Hour episode, Sean Kelly sits down with Ryan Spadafore, co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group, to discuss firearms culture, entrepreneurship, government overreach, payment processing problems, Shot Show, veteran-led teams, faith, freedom, and building a brand in one of the most restricted industries in America. Ryan explains why Atrius is bigger than a product company. To him, it is about rights, responsibility, community, and creating a positive shift inside the firearms space. He also shares how his company dealt with shadow banning, banking issues, payment processor shutdowns, and the difficulty of growing a business that cannot rely on normal advertising. The conversation also covers California gun laws, the Second Amendment, mental health, word-of-mouth marketing, range events, veteran hiring, building with his b...
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Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
like, you know, it's bigger than product and branding, right? It's freedom. It was here before I was here. It's going to be here long after I'm dead, you know, so it's like it's tied to something bigger than just the business, you know. And so I think we're tapping kind of like the warrior class of people. Fortunately, as long as you got the side of the people, man, you know, a lot of people talk in this world, especially in our industry, they run their mouths. But for us it's, you know, performance is the gold standard. GR so it's all about action in this world and we kind of put our money where our mouth is.
Podcast Host
All right, guys, got Ryan on the show today. Co founder and CEO of Atrius Development
Co-host / Interviewer
Group back in Vegas. Just had a really successful shot show here and already back in town, huh?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, back at it, man. Appreciate having me on.
Co-host / Interviewer
Absolutely, man. Yeah, we were talking out there how successful shot show went. So that must have been a good feeling for you.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shot show was great. You know, it was, it's been a pretty exciting kind of like eight months leading up to it since our launch. We, we were kind of in the trench so we didn't really know, you know, what the feedback was like. Obviously it's Kind of different online versus in reality. Yeah, but yeah, man, it was amazing and it just showed like all the hard work that we kind of been putting in and kind of bringing a positive shift to the gun culture. But the feedback was great. You know, Range day was a hit and the response was a blessing.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. So what exactly were you selling or demonstrating?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, so we, we developed basically, me and my best friend Malcolm, we developed the force reset selector and it's a drop in reverse compatible selector for existing mil spec AR15s. So it gives you your safe semi and it kind of gives you a compliant enhanced semi automatic solution in relation to the gun culture. It's really just kind of flexing your rights and increasing the capability of the platform.
Co-host / Interviewer
Got it.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Just in a legal compliant fashion. Nice. So.
Co-host / Interviewer
And it took off?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely took off. And you know, me and Malcolm have been in this industry for a while and we, we've launched various products over our career. We didn't really quite see what the response was going to be like. We just thought we were working on something kind of cool. Yeah, like just a couple dudes in the garage really. But yeah, I think it scratched the itch of the culture of what people really were kind of looking for. And so, yeah, it's been, it's been, it's been good. Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
Because you've launched, you said 700 products.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I was, you know, I've been in the, the gun industry probably since I was like about 20 years old. And so, you know, we, we originally I was at a company, we were developing solutions for some of the compliance states. Right. So that's where I was kind of waking up to some of just like the government overreach stuff that didn't really make sense. Yeah, you could take California as an example and you know, they kind of neutered down a system to make it more safe. But you know, anyone in relation to firearms know that it's all kind of just bs, you know.
Co-host / Interviewer
Sounds like California.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, exactly. But we would basically bridge that gap. Right. So we were still able to have Californians exercise those rights because now we're making those weapons, you know, compliant.
Co-host / Interviewer
Got it.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
And so we kind of bridge the gap for Mil spec AR15s into the state. So a lot of people are like, oh, you can't have it because there's all this stuff on. It's like, no, you can, you just have to do certain things and apply different accessories to it in order for it to be compliant. But that's like when I was younger, I started realizing like, dude, this is, this is all kind of man. You know, and so, and kind of developed, you know, kind of the thought process of just, you know, playing within the guidelines, because that's kind of what it is. It's, you know, the government dictates your left and right limit what you can and can't do, and you're allowed to do anything kind of in that, in that sandbox.
Co-host / Interviewer
Right.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
So people may not like the optics of it, may not like what it looks like, but by its very definition, it follows a letter of the law. And that's the, that's the key thing.
Co-host / Interviewer
Which state has the worst gun laws, in your opinion?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Definitely. Probably the state of California. New York. You know, New Jersey's pretty bad.
Co-host / Interviewer
I see a pattern here.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, yeah. So, but yeah, I mean, I, I, I think I, I grew up, you know, in the industry, so I had the optics that, you know, maybe, you know, certain powers that be just don't want people to have access to this type of stuff. And I think, you know, as, you know, as time has gone on, I think, you know, politics aside, anyone could kind of look at the world, I think today and kind of see, like, it's a little bit of a crazy place. Yeah. So, you know, I think Americans have an obligation to exercise their first Amendment right, you know, and I think, you know, you should exercise your second amendment rights because I think it's getting more important now more than ever. And Atrius Development Group is kind of just a response to kind of the last decade of just kind of nonsense, I would say, where we're kind of flexing that rights for people, you know. You know, and I think, I think we have an opportunity to kind of bring a positive discussion and opportunity to the kind of gun culture because I feel like, you know, it's kind of been discriminated against because it's always, you know, marketed as like a bad thing. But I think people forget what it actually was here for to begin with. Right. Like, you know, there's a very specific reason why the second amendment exists, you know, and it's, it's not necessarily for self defense or, or for hunting, you know, a very specific reason historically for our country, you know. So, like, it's just now, I don't know if that's controversial to say, but
Co-host / Interviewer
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Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
For tyrannical governments. Government overreach. Right. You're given, you know, you know, it's a, it's a safety measure for people to have their sovereignty. Right.
Co-host / Interviewer
Oh, that's why it was introduced.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah. I mean, you know, historically, like you have the, you know, the most deadliest thing on the globe is, you know, governments, you know, historically. So I'm with you on that. Yeah. Right. So. And America is really like the kind of the last bastion of, of freedom and hope because, you know, and I give grace to people that are against guns, of course, you know, because if you don't come from a world where you feel like you had to carry one, I kind of envy you. But a lot of people don't come from that world and so they, they understand why it exists and a lot of people need it, you know.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. When I was growing up in Jersey, as a liberal, I, I could see the argument. But now as I've gotten older, like
Podcast Host
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Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
And the thing is with like criminals or anyone that wants to do something bad, they're going to do something bad regardless. Right. Like you're not going to have, you're not going to implement laws that actually damage, you know, your everyday American. It's not going to really prevent anything. That's the problem, you know. So I think we have to actually instill kind of confidence back into our country that like, hey, you know, weapons are here, they exist and you know, we have to, we have to do a better job at, I think at kind of fighting against the propaganda that, you know, is deemed so bad, you know, and so like, I think this is kind of a good opportunity to take something so controversial and kind of bring, you know, kind of like light to it. Yeah, I agree.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. I don't think it's a gun issue. I think it's a mental health issue.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
It is 100 and you know, everything's kind of downstream from that, of course, you know.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. So yeah, it leads to everything.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
Even the homelessness. A lot of it's a mental health issue.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Everything.
Co-host / Interviewer
It's crazy.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
It's everything.
Co-host / Interviewer
But they'll just try to ban the thing that it's tied to.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Exactly. Because people, it's like a knee jerk reaction. Right. They just want, they just want to make an immediate solution. But like, I think it's kind of cowardice. Right. Like you stand on, you know, on a situation that no one wants to happen. It's like, how brave are you in regards to that? So like, of course no one wants anything bad to happen to other people, you know, but I think we gotta go back on why it exists to begin with. Just like why freedom of speech, you know, is here, you know, because we can speak out and speak our minds and kind of stand on our values and principles, you know, for sure. Because it's all here for a reason. And I think it's making more and more sense as time goes on.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. So being in this space for so many years, have you seen the legislate the laws get easier with guns or
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
worse or so it's kind of like a, kind of like a moving goalpost, you know, some states will be more restrictive as new emerging products kind of come to Market some kind of lesson, you know, and kind of get less restrictive. You know, there's kind of been three major checkpoints I've discussed before. But, you know, the Overton window, at least for the gun culture, I feel like is changing, you know, because if you look in the early 2000s, suppressors were kind of deemed as controversial. And then now you Fast forward today, 20 years later, every brand's got suppressors and different types of silencers for their guns and stuff.
Co-host / Interviewer
And, well, they. They were banned before, right?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of just restrictions on it. And the irony is, you know, I think at that time they're like, ooh, you know, you can shoot someone while it's quiet. Like, it actually is safer. You know, you. You save your hearing, you know, you know, there's. It's actually just a good, safe product because you don't necessarily need to have ear pros to speak if you want to go shoot and blow your ears out. But, you know, that changed, and now everyone has suppressors. And then the brace market came, which is kind of hard to explain, but basically it gave the common person an sbr, which was an NFA item. And I feel like our category kind of being in the force reset category is kind of the next evolution of that, you know, so it's all kind of tracking with some of these trends going. Going. Yeah, but, yeah, that's as far as. As far as, you know, guns, because it's a very simple industry. Right. It's not like tech with all these crazy algorithms and stuff like that. It's all kind of mechanical parts at the end of the day. But this is probably one of the. I feel like this category is one of the biggest lifts that you can do in the. In the industry because you're. You're, you know, you're. You're increasing the accessibility for what the biggest market, which is America. Right. Know, you're not siloed with military LE or anything like that. So it really is a people's play. And I think people are kind of tracking that, you know, that you know what our mission is and what our goal is.
Co-host / Interviewer
And we.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
We really want to try and make this an industry standard and get the industry to stand shoulder to shoulder with us on this. Because in the beginning, we just, you know, we kind of hit. Got hit with a lot of different types of resistances, you know.
Co-host / Interviewer
So, yeah, we're going to dive in about. Yeah, yeah, got debanked. You lost payment processors. I don't know if you want to Name the bank. But it was.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Nah, it's all good. But yeah, I mean when it comes to the gun industry, I think I get envious at times because it's all. I know. But you know, all the, you know, tech stacks and everything that use to support it doesn't matter what it is, whether it's fintech, you know, marketing agencies, pr, you name it. If you're a gun guy and you're the gun business, they just label you
Co-host / Interviewer
as something Instagram banty. Right?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, you know, you're neutered, you know you're doing, you know, you get neutered on the social medias, you're shadow band here and there, you know, but with the support of the people, we were kind of able to kind of navigate some of these like pretty crazy obstacles to be quite honest. But you know, as a startup, you know, you get to bank, they, you know, people take your money, you're accused of just crazy, insane stuff. It's, it's pretty, it's pretty interesting to say the least. But it's, it's, it's kind of lonely in regards to our industry because like, you know, we talked to other entrepreneurs our age, like they don't really experience that type of, you know, discrimination.
Co-host / Interviewer
So to start, that's next level.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, very few even, you know, and I get, and so I, again I understand sometimes and that's why I'm very forward facing about who I am, what I do. If you have an issue with it, totally get it, you know, you know, I understand. So some brands just don't want to be a feeling. I mean Shopify is a good example. Right. Like they, you know, I would say over 10, you know, about 10 years ago, they data banked a lot or not a bank. They, they deplatformed a lot of people.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
You know, in the gun space. In the gun space. Yeah. Because you know, I would say tech is typically a little bit more political.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Leaning towards a little, you know, leftist part of this ideology. They don't want to be associated with it, you know, but now that I feel like that trend's trending a little bit better the right direction where they're now coming back in and you know, they want to bring people back on and kind of support the space. But you know, we're really bullish on just kind of supporting American businesses. You know, we have dealers all over the country, you know and right now during the Trump administration, it's a little bit of a slump. You know, there's not too much of an Incentive to go out and kind of buy for our industry. But you know, with us it was, it was very volatile and you know, a lot of, a lot of dealers across the country having really good success with our product because it is moving well and you know, we're basically able to kind of add and be a force multiplier for the space as a whole, which is really, really cool, you know, and people are very, very pleased by that and we're able to support a lot of cool teams across the country.
Co-host / Interviewer
So you do mainly B2B it sounds like.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, so we do B2C and B2B and we just, our, our main focus is a commercial space and yeah, we just been growing as fast as, as we can, you know. That's impressive, man.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. To have this growth in a, in a recession. I know some people don't like to admit that, but I think we're in one is impressive.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, yeah. It's honestly, it's been a blessing. Me and Malcolm always laugh because you know, I'm sure we have character traits that you know, aid in us as people. You know, maybe smart, maybe hardworking, you know, all these things. But at the end of the day, man, it was all credits to God on that one. Yeah.
Podcast Host
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Co-host / Interviewer
That's SelectQuote.comDSH just.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
We're just dumb enough to keep showing up, you know, regardless of outcome.
Co-host / Interviewer
You Know, I mean when you invent hundreds of products, I feel like one of them is going to take off.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
I mean, at the end of the day we just, you know, we have a passion for it. You know, my whole team is, you know, prior military and you know, everything we do, we're able to kind of give back, you know. So me and my buddy prime have a nonprofit and we're able to provide, you know, help for, you know, transitioning vets and stuff. So like it's all very synergetic, you know, to the veteran community and it's. It's been awesome, man. That's all a blessing.
Co-host / Interviewer
So what was that transition like for you? Because I know you served too.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, so I actually, it was actually really cool. My, my dream was is I wanted to continue doing everything I was doing in the, in the Second Amendment space. I was with 19th Group which was a reserve greenberry component. So I was on the training team there while I was working on Atreus with Malcolm. So I was kind of doing a lot. My dream scenario is I can work for a cool gun company, still kind of be an operator type dude, you know, still clawing at that while we're working on this. And so it was a reserve lifestyle, you know, a lot of people don't know it exists, so.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah, I didn't know that actually.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, a lot of people don't. It's kind of a. The best kept secret, honestly. And I met a bunch of amazing people. Military did not end up working out for me. Time wise, timeline wise because Atrius. So it kind of just sod up my life.
Co-host / Interviewer
So.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
But I'm on. It was everything I was kind of looking for, you know, I wanted a mission, I wanted a team, I wanted all these things.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
And the military didn't end up panning out for me and that's okay. You know, like I think both in my career in the gun space and in the military, I've obviously experienced wins and losses and failures and I think all that kind of developed me for, for this opportunity and I was able to kind of bridge the gap from what I liked from the military and the team I was on and bring it over to. To Atrius, you know, so. But yeah, I was on the training team so none of us qualed or anything like that. Basically we're just kind of selected to get queued up to complete the training and then you can kind of have this cool double lifestyle.
Co-host / Interviewer
Dangerous. Yeah, I didn't know that was a thing.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah. So there's 19th and 20th group, where they reserve components. And honestly, there's a bunch of great reserve components out there. It doesn't have to be Special Forces or soft, but there's a reserve PJ unit. You know, Air Force has tac Ps. And so there's a lot of kind of cool solutions out there that you can augment your existing lifestyle. You just meet amazing people along the way, you know.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah, that's cool, because I know the payment for the military is not the highest, so to have that kind of.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, yeah. Especially on the reserve side, because it's in some different ways, obviously. It's like condition of the country if there's. Whatever's going on. Yeah. But it's a little bit difficult because you have to. You know, if you're a father and you got a career, you have to maintain that while still maintaining a standard, you know, in the military. So doing that both at the same time, you got to be pretty good at kind of just multitasking.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. You know, but so you hire pretty much veterans only.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
I don't hire veterans only. It just so happened to be that, you know, a big portion of my team had baby veterans. Yeah. But no, I have industry gun guys on my team as well. You know, a lot of guys with a lot of experience, which is good on both sides of the fence. And so we have, like, this really, really cool blend of people that really kind of see the bigger picture of what we're trying to do and kind of see how. How, you know, impactful it really is, you know, and so everyone has, like, a very, very, you know, singular focus on the mission that we're trying to do. And they've been a blessing, guys, you know, and I was able to spin this team up relatively quick.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah, you said eight months ago you launched this.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, yeah, we basically launched in May. I mean, really for 2025, because we got banked and all that. We were like. It was really like. We were in business for, like, four or five months over, you know.
Co-host / Interviewer
Oh, that took four months?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Well, like, we were. It was like we were almost out of commission for almost like a month and a half. And we, like, figured it out, you know, so.
Co-host / Interviewer
A long time.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah. And then it was. It was Cordova and PSQ payments that actually kind of helped turn my business back on. And, um, those guys, man, they. They. They legit saved our business. You know, there's probably multiple times with all these different obstacles, we should have probably been out of business, you know, but they kind of saw what we were doing and what we were trying to do and they've helped other companies in relation to our space. And for a fintech company, you know, they really, really came in at a very crucial time for us, you know, so. And I believe PSQ Payments is owned by Donald Trump Jr. So their whole thing is, is they, you know, they want to incentivize like American main businesses and kind of support the Pro 2A, which is great. So they're, they're a evolution, at least for our vertical. And the experience has been phenomenal. And their team.
Co-host / Interviewer
Nice shout out to Trump Jr. Yeah, I didn't know he had. He has a lot of companies, man. Yeah, he's got a drawing down.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
I don't really know how it works, but all their execs, you know, Michael and Brian and all their guys over there, man, they really, really helped us and they just been a phenomenal kind of support system for us. And that was another thing is like, once we kind of launched, you know, we kind of attracted really good people in support of what we're trying to do. It was almost like we let off a beacon, you know. So regardless of what obstac kind of came our way, we just had like an endless supply of people that's like willing to help, you know, Amazing. And then, you know, even from the community, you know, customers, you know, we, me and Malcolm were kind of isolated on so many different data sets because like, you know, we didn't have all the money in the world to go buy everything to see what was compatible. Yeah, we were damn near compatible with all AR15s, but they, they, they were just giving feedback like constantly, like, hey man, we tried it in this and this and like, it was just.
Co-host / Interviewer
So you used your customers to get feedback?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, I mean, as far as, like when it came to compatibility because like, there's so many, you know, we call them Frankenstein ars, right? Like you can go and build a gun yourself. So it's like if it's not a production weapon system that's, you know, there's gonna be different tolerances for various weapon systems like that. We're damn near 99.9 drop in reverse compatible. But there are some products that we didn't know because we just, you know, and the community was just like, hey, it works in this. And then they were trying to put it in other weapon systems, which was cool. It's like, well, we didn't really it for that one, you know, but let us know the feedback. Yeah, exactly. So if there's problems, we would replace it, you know, so it's kind of been like a really big community effort and it's been a kind of like a grassroots movement because as, as we were talking, like, yeah, we're shadow band and all this stuff, but you know, everyone's kind of just been, as soon as they get it, they go and share with their homies, they share with their community, they go to the range, they share with their friends. Right. So even though we're still very, very small, a lot, a lot of the market doesn't know that we exist and we're just garnering more and more support for, we're doing, you know, and so, yeah, we're, we're just, I feel like we're kind of just on the right track. Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
You know, you got to get creative in your space because you're not allowed on social media. You can't run ads. Yeah. The only marketing is word of mouth and events.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, man, seriously. But honestly, like, even though that bothers me at times because, you know, I, you know, if you ran ads, it'd
Co-host / Interviewer
be a winston roi.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah. Like we're allowed to have them, you know, so like. But the good thing is, is that because it kind of insulates us a little bit, it almost protects it as well. Right. Which was, which is interesting. I could see that. Yeah. You know, which I like. You know, there's a, there's just a very, I would say the, the business is very archaic. It's very old school. But a lot of ways it kind of protected itself from this like modern era, you know, of like influence, whether it's from tech or, you know, from politics or from culture. And so typically, you know, you do have anti kind of two way influence out there, obviously. But overall the industry is kind of like the dude's business. And it's very diverse. We have a lot of women coming in, which is great. And so like, it's just kind of a really exciting time in the, in the gun culture right now. I said we call it like the renaissance of guns right now.
Co-host / Interviewer
No, that's how I felt when I went to Shaw show, man.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
Because I'm not really in the scene like that. But just seeing how many people were there and every booth was packed, it
Podcast Host
was crazy because I go to a
Co-host / Interviewer
lot of events in Vegas.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah. But the, the thing about like there's not from my worldview is like there's not many products or many experiences you can get in life that give you like a visceral experience. Right. So it's like, you know, If I download an app or, you know, it's a software, it's this or that. It's like, dude, when you get behind a weapon system, right, it's like you're going to remember.
Co-host / Interviewer
You feel like hit again.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, dude. You know, so it doesn't matter if you're not a gun person. Like, you will always have fun. I call it the joy fact.
Co-host / Interviewer
Ye.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
That's why I go every year.
Co-host / Interviewer
I feel like I, I want to be on. Yeah. Like, I don't know.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Like, yeah, it's fun.
Co-host / Interviewer
I want to be there. Like, I'm not even at guns.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Like one mag, you know, is like a hour of hot yoga almost. You know what I mean? You're like, ah, that feels great.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah, no, it's always a blast there, man. Like, I literally couldn't name you two gun models, but I, I just love
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
going to J Point. Just go there and have a good time, man. That's what it's for. Yeah, for us it's like the super bowl, you know, it's worked for us, but like, if you get, if anyone could attend, highly recommend it. You know, people there are amazing. All the brands there are cool. You kind of get exposed to like a really unique side of the, of the gun culture, you know.
Co-host / Interviewer
So what's next for you guys though? You plan on the next release or.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, so we're working on the, on the, uh, we call the G lever. So, uh, Geisley's, uh, is a very prominent trigger manufacturer. So it's kind of like the Porsche of the triggers, I would say. So we're going to be releasing that here soon. I know, uh, we're a little late, but we're just distracted on other stuff. But we, we plan on building up the FRS ecosystem and that would basically hit all the biggest addressable markets as far as like, quantities of platforms in the market. So, you know, we can expect the tech to kind of branch out into other platforms if you are a fan of other types of weapon systems. And then that will kind of transition to the next phase of Atreus and what we plan on doing. But we want to, want to just, you know, be a kind of a premier firearm accessory manufacturer and augment all the great companies out there in the process. So, you know, we have, you know, OEM deals lined up and now what's cool is because we release this, you know, everything around the product is kind of like a, a force multiplier in a way because it's increasing the sales of everything around it from a component perspective. And then what we expect to see in layman's terms, you know, we want to support, like, the Toyotas, you know, so you make the car and then we'll do the rims. Got it type mentality. So there'll be a. There'll be. There'll be a day where, you know, if you go to your local gun store, you know, you'll. You'll see a prominent, you know, AR from the factory with our. With our product in it. Nice. So that's kind of the direction that we're going. So we can basically augment these existing product lines, you know, and bring something new and innovative to the space.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah, so that's the end goal for you guys.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, that'd be awesome to see. Right. Like, because now someone that doesn't know us would just go to a store and it's ready to go already there from the factory. Right.
Co-host / Interviewer
So it's an easier sell.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's moving the needle, I think, like, the culture, you know, like, everything is a byproduct of what the goal is, but that's what we want to see. But. And we're seeing it now. You know, we have shooting competitions that now kind of have like an FRS category, which is cool. We have, you know, even LE agencies are, you know, testing for compliance solutions for. For some patrol rifles, training facilities, use it for simmunitions and sim round, you know, so these are. These are sides of the business that kind of caught me off guard. And it's kind of cool to see that in. In a lot of ways, because those are, like, things that you just don't really see. Yeah, there's a lot of kind of respect, you know, and then there's international demand as well, you know, so seems like, you know, we kind of created something pretty cool, and, you know, we're just excited to kind of just keep running with it.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah, there's a lot of verticals in this space. Like, you didn't even go the government contract route, right?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, well, that's what caught me off guard because, you know, the DOD and LE route is this is originally, this was. And it still is. This is a completely commercial play. Right. Like, you know, everyday American, they can go out and get it. So I originally actually signed off kind of le. However, you know, a lot of these agencies, whether they have limited funds on, you know, new weapon systems and stuff like that, so they were looking at compliance solutions, so nothing's happened with it. But later in the future, if we do, you know, diversify the Product line. Yeah. You know, we can definitely help support, you know, kind of LE and the DOD as well.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. All it takes is a few of those for massive revenue stream.
Podcast Host
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
You know, I did a couple during the pandemic.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. I sold some PPE to a couple states and a couple hospitals. Those guys got money. Yeah. Holy crap.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah. Who meals the government for you?
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. They'll sign off.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
It's your money.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. Multi million dollar deals, like it's nothing, you know?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
It's crazy.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah. But. Yeah, I don't know. Well, we'll see where we're going here in the next couple of years, though. It's definitely an exciting time.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. I could see you're very passionate about this stuff, man. It's cool.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah. It's all. I live and breathe, this stuff.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. Would you say you're like the visionary, the architect of the company?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
I think I play a piece in it. You know, Malcolm is definitely the engineer. He's one of the most gifted kind of material scientists and engineers, and he's not formally educated. And so, like, to put this in context, like, when we were kids growing up, we would play like Halo or something, you know, but, like, he would literally tell me the science on how the armor would work. Right. Even from that age, you know, like, he. He is super gifted, you know, and so we kind of have like our two forms of autism and together, I would say we're definitely both the architect. Just, he's covering one angle and I'm covering the other, you know, so together, though, we've always been like the best team. And it's a blessing because we grew up together. And at the end of the day, we're building a phenomenal company and a phenomenal brand. And I get to do with my best friends. Yeah. I get to have fun at the range and, you know, like, just seeing everyone. I think me and Malcolm kind of suffer with a lot of different stresses and pressure as business owners, but seeing the value we're able to provide, everyone around us is. Is really, really cool and it's very rewarding.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. That's incredible, man. I've had a best friend since first grade that I work with, and it's. People can't. It's hard to explain. You know what I mean? Like, if you haven't done it.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah. And it's like, it's just. It's really, really unique and it's cool. And, you know, we've. We got the best people around us. And I couldn't have asked for a Better soul brother in this journey, you know.
Co-host / Interviewer
The dream team.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, exactly. And it's good to know that, you know, no matter what, I can walk into any room and so can he. If he doesn't have an answer, I. I'm in his back pocket. Same thing for him. If I don't have the answer to something. Between both of us, we kind of have the knowledge, like, for the whole spit, you know, kind of relation to what we do. We're definitely still stupid in a lot of ways, but. Yeah. And knowing that you have someone next to you, no matter how hard it may seem or, you know, or doubts or fears or whatever, like, no matter what, we'll. We'll always kind of push through, no matter what's in the way, you know, Massive. Regardless of reward or consequence.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah, it's massive, man.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
The average male has one friend now in America.
Podcast Host
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
Isn't that crazy? It's a loneliness epidemic. They're saying it is because of social media.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
It is, yeah. I mean, it makes sense, right? Like, for how connected the world is. The most disconnected society ever because there's
Co-host / Interviewer
no genuine connections anymore.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Absolutely, bro. And so there's like a lack of, you know, authenticity in the world because we kind of just been watered down, you know, it's kind of what I see, you know, so keeping as real as you can, it goes a long way, especially. Especially now, you know, And I think, fortunately, I think people are kind of waking up to it. I think there's a lot of awareness and in the culture of our country, and I think the thresholds are. Are rising. There's almost like a spiritual insurrection.
Co-host / Interviewer
I agree.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
In America right now, you know, so those get.
Co-host / Interviewer
Those get at the most views on my channel right now. The spiritual related episodes.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah, man. Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, it's all good versus evil, you know, like, and, you know, me and Malcolm are Christian and, you know, we believe in God and, you know, we believe we're. We're doing the right thing by our people, you know, so at the end of the day, it's his path and we're not gonna detour for it, I don't think. You know, God doesn't like cowards, you know, so we kind of knew the gauntlet we were picking up. So some of this was kind of to be expected.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. You were fighting a tough battle, right?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah. And if this is indicative of anything, if this is the first eight months, I can only imagine, you know, the coming years is probably gonna be exciting, you know. Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
Whenever you go up against a multi billion dollar industry, you know, it's an uphill battle.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
It is, you know it is. But fortunately, as long as you got the side of the people, man, you know, a lot of people talk in this world, especially in our industry, they run their mouths. But for us, it's, you know, performance is the gold standard.
Co-host / Interviewer
Right.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
So it's all about action in this world and we kind of put our money where our mouth is in regards to one, our stance and how we support the community. And we're going to just continue doing that. And that's what makes it easy. Right. It's like we kind of just be what's missing in the space and at the end of the day, dude, we're just being ourselves. Yeah. And it's kind of a good opportunity to kind of showcase what, you know, HS Family Group is, is kind of made of and what the fabric of the company is. And, you know, it's, it's being recognized for in the, you know, from the good as well. You know, a lot of people kind of see what it is that we're doing and just rallying a lot of support. Yeah. Every day we're in business is a blessing. Every single day. And every day we win the culture over is just one more day closer to the goal.
Co-host / Interviewer
Love that. Yeah. I tell people, let your product or service speak for itself.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Exactly.
Co-host / Interviewer
That way you don't have to worry about anything else.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
Because if your product sucks, you could spend a ton of money on advertising. It doesn't matter.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah. The thing with this, it's like, you know, it's bigger than product and branding. Right. Like it's, it's freedom. Right. It's gonna be here. It was here before I was here. It's gonna be here long after I'm dead, you know, so it's like it's tied to something bigger than just the business, you know, and so I think we're tapping kind of like the warrior class of people in our country. And there's like value in that, you know, there's, there's immense value in that and it's really, really cool to kind of witness firsthand.
Podcast Host
Yeah.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
I think people want that freedom. Now you're starting to see people buy farmland and go off grid because they want that freedom, you know?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Absolutely. Absolutely. And people want to just take responsibility for their own, for their family, for their community. Whether it's farmland, whether it's, you know, how you raise your kids, whether it's what you decide to defend them with. You Know, like, it's all cut from the same thing, man. Yeah. You know, 100.
Co-host / Interviewer
I agree. But you're seeing a massive movement towards it.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Massive.
Co-host / Interviewer
I think people are losing faith in government, unfortunately.
Podcast Host
Or fortunately.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
Depends on how you look at it.
Podcast Host
Yeah.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
And I. I think that's a. Relatively a good thing, you know, especially for our generation. You know, like, we've. I think we kind of grew up. The last 30 years has been very, very interesting. And now, you know, hindsight being 20 20, we can look back and, you know, maybe evaluate some things that happened from our youth. And it's like, wait, maybe. Maybe that's not exactly what happened, you know, like, say, to say the least. Right. So. And I think it's good. I think it's good to question narratives, you know, question your own position at times. Right. You know, there's. There's a lot of adversaries out there waging over one's kind of mind, especially now with the rise of tech and. Yeah, I think it's. It's been fun. Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
You got to know yourself. You gotta have something to fall back to. I know for you it's Christianity, but otherwise, I think you get too compromised.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
If you don't have a set of values.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Of course, dude. You know, and if I'll be honest, dude, for. I could probably speak for me and Malcolm on this if we didn't have a faith in God, bro. Like, that's like our pillar, you know, as far as, you know, withstanding just, you know, the doubts, the fears, anxieties, you know, as, you know. You know, when you start a business, there's a lot of uncertainty.
Co-host / Interviewer
Oh, yeah.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
But you gotta. You gotta overcome those fears. And there's, you know, there's no bravery without it, you know, without fear. So, yeah. You know, you just kind of put your balls on the table and just let it ride, man.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. You really find yourself when you start a business.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
You learn a lot about yourself.
Co-host / Interviewer
Yeah. If you're caught for it or not.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
There's been times, like, I dealt with debating, like, you actually, where PayPal would hold my funds for like a year. Yeah. Stripe would shut me down. Banks would. I'm banned from Chase right now.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
And as you know, it's no longer about you. Right. Like the original. It's like, I just want to make some money for me and my family. It's like, now you got employees, right? Now you got families of fees, you know? No, they have partners. You know, like, it's this compounding value that's. That keeps growing. And so, you know, that's. It takes. It takes the right people to be able to withstand that and. And know that you're. You're doing good for people, you know, especially now, man, it's. It's hard to, you know, find a career or jobs. You know, like, people coming out of
Co-host / Interviewer
college is not much AIs, replacing a lot of jobs.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah. There's not much opportunity. At least, you know, from. From what I saw, you know, I was. I was kind of insulated because I was. I was passionate about what I did. But I watched, you know, all my friends and my peers kind of go through a lot of different struggles and stuff. So kind of being able to provide opportunity for people is just awesome because I just. I want to. I like seeing people succeed, you know, and I definitely, definitely don't want people to go with what. Go through what you and I went through. Right. Like, if you had money locked up from some financial institution, that's make or break in a lot of situations.
Co-host / Interviewer
Right.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
So I. Luckily, I had friends around
Co-host / Interviewer
me to get me through it.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
Or I would have been toast.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Exactly. You know, so I. I want to bring a positive shift, you know, in relation to what I do. I don't want to get to a position where I, you know, the next Ryan and Malcolm and entrepreneurs coming up don't have to experience some of the discriminatory actions in regards to, you know, the Second Amendment space.
Co-host / Interviewer
I love that, man.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah.
Co-host / Interviewer
Well, where can people support y' all and potentially become customers and all that?
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
Yeah. You guys can follow us. Atreus Dev on Instagram might be a little hard to find because we are Shadow Band and then Atrius Development Group is the company. Yeah. And if you guys go to atrius.dev you guys can go to the website and kind of check out what we're doing, follow our socials and kind of just check out what we're all about. And if we're at a local range day across the country, definitely cruise on out, say what up to us, and our whole team will be out there, and we'll make sure you guys all have a really positive experience, you know?
Co-host / Interviewer
Let's go.
Podcast Host
Love it, man. We'll link everything below. Should check out the links.
Co-host / Interviewer
See you guys.
Ryan (Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group)
All right, later.
Podcast Host
If you learned anything from this episode or got any value at all, please share this episode with a friend.
Co-host / Interviewer
It helps us grow the channel, it
Podcast Host
helps us grow the podcast, and it
Co-host / Interviewer
means a lot to us. Thank you so much.
Podcast Summary: Digital Social Hour — "How He Built a Pro-Second Amendment Startup... | Ryan Spadafore | DSH #2064"
Release Date: July 14, 2026
Host: Sean Kelly (with additional co-host/interviewer)
Guest: Ryan Spadafore, Co-founder and CEO of Atrius Development Group
This episode of Digital Social Hour dives deep into the entrepreneurial journey of Ryan Spadafore, who co-founded Atrius Development Group—a startup focused on innovative, compliant, and pro-Second Amendment firearm accessories. Through a candid conversation with host Sean Kelly and a co-host, Ryan discusses the challenges and triumphs of launching a gun industry startup in today’s regulatory and cultural climate, his personal philosophy, and the broader context of gun rights advocacy in America.
On Freedom vs. Business:
“It’s bigger than product and branding, right? It’s freedom... It was here before I was here. It’s going to be here long after I’m dead.” — Ryan [00:59, 34:57]
On Compliance:
“People may not like the optics of it, may not like what it looks like, but by its very definition, it follows a letter of the law. And that’s the key thing.” — Ryan [04:49]
On the Purpose of the Second Amendment:
“For tyrannical governments. Government overreach. It’s a safety measure for people to have their sovereignty.” — Ryan [07:09]
On Changing Attitudes:
“There’s a renaissance of guns right now.” — Ryan [25:00]
On Challenges as a Startup:
“As a startup, you get debanked, people take your money, you’re accused of just crazy, insane stuff. It’s... lonely in regards to our industry.” — Ryan [13:00]
On the Power of Faith:
“If we didn’t have a faith in God, bro, that’s like our pillar, as far as withstanding the doubts, the fears, anxieties…” — Ryan [36:45]
On Legacy:
“Every day we’re in business is a blessing. Every single day. And every day we win the culture over is just one more day closer to the goal.” — Ryan [34:42]
For listeners seeking to understand both the practical and philosophical sides of building a gun industry startup—and the ongoing debate around the Second Amendment—this episode offers a rare, raw, and comprehensive inside look.