Article by Morgan Overcash. Photos by Lynnea Gabrielle.
Two Marines who served together in Iraq have built their friendship into a budding new business venture that offers discounts and other special treatment to Texas Law Shield members.
Jon Linhart and Marco Badillo run Phantom Tactical gun shop based in Webster, Texas. The business is a proud member of our Member Perks Program, which supplies discounts and special offers you are entitled to just for being a member of Texas Law Shield. Texas Law Shield partners with nearly 1,500 facilities nationwide.
Phantom Tactical owners Jon Linhart and Marco Badillo say they are like brothers after meeting in Marine boot camp. Neither Jon, the son of a social worker, nor Marco, a first-generation American, had much experience around firearms, but after training, the young Marines would end up protecting our nation in the bloodiest battle of the Iraq war.
In 2004, Jon and Marco were deployed to Fallujah, where they heroically served in Operation Phantom Fury, the namesake of their eventual business. Marco sustained shrapnel wounds and was shot in the neck, but, fortunately, both he and Jon returned home safely in 2006.
After their years in the service, the veterans took some time off to relax and to “enjoy being alive.” Later, Jon began managing a local gun shop.
While Jon loved what he was doing, he began to see faults in how the shop operated, specifically in the treatment of veterans, and he knew that “it could be done better.”
So Jon quit his job and enlisted the help of Marco to run a more veteran-friendly environment earlier this year. Jon said that he and Marco wanted to build a company that could “treat people well and give them what they want.” In less than 6 months, Jon and Marco officially opened Phantom Tactical, located on State Hwy. 3 near Ellington Airport.
Phantom Tactical is stocked with tactical bags, magazines, grips, holsters, ammo, T-shirts, hats, rifles, and much more. The store carries products like Triple T Holsters, custom gun rails, and Bravo Company Manufacturing (BCM) products. Phantom Tactical tries to carry as many products as possible from veteran-owned and local companies.
Jon and Marco’s military service has given them an advantage in running the store, because the veterans take pride in their product selections and guarantee that they “don’t stock anything that they wouldn’t use themselves,” Jon said.
As far as services, there isn’t much that Phantom Tactical doesn’t do. Jon and Marco buy, sell, and trade guns, and they also customize firearms and offer the Cerakote finish on products, as well as gunsmithing. Some of the store’s most common work orders include AR-15’s not chambering rounds, malfunctioning front sights, trigger jobs, upgrading night sights, and checking accessories that customers have installed themselves.
Unlike some other facilities, Phantom Tactical’s owners don’t want to just sell you AR parts; they want to help you install them and give you the guidance and assistance to do so properly.
Phantom Tactical also offers training classes as well as LTC permit classes, weapons- safety courses, classes on gun cleaning, and basic firearm courses.
Two discounts Phantom Tactical currently offers to Texas Law Shield members include 10% off all self defense ammo and 10% off all holsters when you show your Texas Law Shield Membership Card.
As always, Texas Law Shield thanks all of our men and women in the military, past and present, for their sacrifices and service.
12430 Hwy 3, Suite B4
Webster, TX 77598
(832) 224-4134
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Email: info@phantomtacticaltx.com
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