- The House Oversight Committee is investigating five gun makers after a string of mass shootings in the US.
- Smith & Wesson has so far not complied with the panel's requests, according to Rep. Carolyn Maloney.
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform subpoenaed Smith & Wesson, one of the largest gun manufacturers in the US, on Monday after the company failed to provide the panel with key documents revealing sales figures and profits into "AR-15-style firearms," according to a press release from the committee chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney.
The request for documents is part of the panel's broader investigation into the top five firearm makers in the country, which was opened on May 26 after the Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, mass shootings.
The panel wants to dig into the business practices of these manufacturers, all of which have sold weapons that were used in mass shootings, and how they market assault rifles to the public.
In a letter to the Smith & Wesson CEO, Maloney wrote that the company's response to the panel has been "deficient" because it has not provided specific revenue, profit, and sales information related to "semiautomatic rifles based on the AR platform and similar variants."
Smith & Wesson, whose president and CEO Mark P. Smith also refused to testify before Congress in July, instead provided broader revenue figures around "long guns," which includes any gun designed to be held with two hands such as shotguns and non-semi-automatic rifles, according to the letter.
The company recently reported annual sales of $1.1 billion — "the highest sales in the company's nearly 170-year history" — and raked in at least $135 million from AR-15-style rifles in 2021, according to Maloney.
"Even as your company is reaping growing revenue from assault rifles, your weapons are being used in deadly mass shootings with increasing frequency," she wrote.
The committee also wants to look at the company's marketing campaigns. Maloney wrote that the advertising "contained dangerous themes and messages" and potentially claimed false endorsements of law enforcement.
Smith previously agreed to appear voluntarily before a committee hearing to talk about the company's business practices but has since refused to testify.
His counsel said that Smith was worried he "might be the only industry CEO to appear" and that the hearing "inappropriately focused" on Smith & Wesson, Maloney wrote.
Smith & Wesson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.