Texarkana company's custom-designed firearms turn heads

A shop in Texarkana has been making fans on social media for the unique coating system it utilizes to adorn handguns with custom designs. On its official site, Hydrographics of Texas touts pistols with camo, sugar skull designs and even one for Dallas Cowboys fans. less A shop in Texarkana has been making fans on social media for the unique coating system it utilizes to adorn handguns with custom designs. On its official site, Hydrographics of Texas touts pistols with camo, ... more Photo: Hydrographics Of Texas Photo: Hydrographics Of Texas Image 1 of / 36 Caption Close Texarkana company's custom-designed firearms turn heads 1 / 36 Back to Gallery

A shop in Texarkana, Texas, has been making fans on social media for the unique coating system it utilizes to adorn firearms with custom designs.

On its official site, Hydrographics of Texarkana touts pistols with camo and sugar skull designs, and even one for Dallas Cowboys fans.

That one, though, was short-lived as the company didn’t have copyright clearances to continue making it. Still, a picture of the pistol was shared more than 70,000 times and become fodder for Cowboys haters.

One of Hydrographics of Texarkana's more popular pistol designs was one emblazoned with Hello Kitty imagery. Soon after pictures of those designs went viral several concerned people reached out to the Sanrio company, which owns the Hello Kitty brand. The Texarkana firm didn't have the copyright for the Hello Kitty design and was told to cease using it as it was decidedly unauthorized.

"Sanrio does not condone, and does not permit, its Hello Kitty intellectual property to be reproduced on gun or other weaponry. The creation, display, promotion and sales of these unauthorized Hello Kitty guns violates Sanrio's rights under U.S. and international laws of copyright, copyright, and unfair competition," the company said in a statement.

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The father and son duo that runs the company, Charles and Jordan Lemley, purchased the equipment to coat the guns but it took a while for them to get the proper paperwork to get up and running. Once they did, the orders came flooding in from people wanting custom jobs.

They use two different processes to gussy up the firearms -- hydro dipping and DuraCoat. In the dipping process, pieces basically get a bath, while the DuraCoat process involves painting.

The older Lemley says that some detractors have come out against the colorful designs that they apply to the pistols and rifles.

“We do have some critics that think we shouldn't make a gun look like a toy, but I disagree. Gun safety should be taught in schools and should be taught by families,” says Lemley. He says that taking the mystery out of guns can make for a safer society.

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The Lemley duo now has a fully-licensed shop that can buy and sell firearms. They are also master-certified applicators of DuraCoat, taught by the creator of the product, Steven Lauer with Lauer Custom Weaponry.

Since the YETI craze took over a few years back they have begun dipping the metal tumblers. They have processed more than 500 cups in the past six months.

“Business is good. We have a lot on our plates but it’s manageable,” Lemley says. “We are doing what we love. We are given the opportunity to be creative.”