House Subpoenas Gun Manufacturer After It Refused To Comply With Probe

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform subpoenaed firearm manufacturer Smith & Wesson on Tuesday after it refused to provide the panel with information about its revenue and business tactics.

The committee, which is investigating the firearm industry after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, in May, is demanding documents about the company’s manufacture and sale of AR-15-style assault weapons. Smith & Wesson refused to disclose this information voluntarily. 

“This subpoena was made necessary by your unwillingness to voluntarily comply with the Committee’s investigation, including your refusal to testify about your company’s troubling business practices at the Committee’s July 27, 2022, hearing and your refusal to voluntarily produce key information about your company’s sale of assault weapons to civilians,” committee chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said in a statement. 

Mark Smith, the company’s CEO and president, backed out of a previous commitment to testify before Congress, the Oversight Committee said Tuesday. 

“Mr. Smith initially accepted the invitation to appear, but abruptly withdrew from the hearing only five days before it was set to occur — despite the Committee’s good-faith efforts to secure his voluntary participation,” a press release from the committee said. 

“Your company collects hundreds of millions of dollars selling assault weapons that are used in mass shootings, including the horrific murder of seven Americans and the wounding of dozens more during a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois,” Maloney added.

Smith & Wesson, one of the largest makers of rifles in the U.S., is one of five gun manufacturers the House Oversight Committee has zeroed in on during its investigation into the companies and their role in mass shootings. A report the committee issued last month revealed that those gun makers have collected nearly $2 billion from assault rifle sales over the past decade. It also revealed that some of the companies have resisted complying with the probe.

“Smith & Wesson refused to provide specific revenue and profit information for its AR15-style firearms, instead providing aggregate ‘long gun’ revenues that totaled over $250 million in 2021, more than doubling from 2020,” the report said, adding that the company also revealed that assault rifles make up more than half of all long gun sales.

Smith & Wesson did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the subpoena.

Two of the other gun manufacturers at the center of the investigation also failed to meet the committee’s demands and may be subject to subpoenas. Sig Sauer, which produced the assault rifles used in the two deadliest mass shootings in American history, refused to provide any sales data, revealing only that AR-15-style rifles make up around 3% of its total revenue. Bushmaster, another major gun manufacturer, only provided sales data from 2021.