WASHINGTON, D.C. -(Ammoland.com)- The House Oversight Committee has served Smith & Wesson with a subpoena requesting records surrounding the company’s popular M&P15 rifle.
The subpoena comes after the CEO of Smith & Wesson refused to participate in a gun control hearing in which CEO Marty Daniel of Daniel Defense and CEO Christopher Killoy of Sturm, Ruger & Co. testified via Zoom last month. Committee Democrats complained that the gun company did not submit enough documents for their liking. The Democrats claim that the information the Connecticut-based company provided was incomplete and left out key metrics around its sale of AR-15 style rifles.
“While your company refused to provide information specific to AR-15-style rifles, the limited information provided shows that your company brought in at least $125 million from AR-15 style rifles in 2021 alone,” the Committee’s chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) wrote in the subpoena.
The Committee is investigating the top five leading sellers of AR-15 style rifles.
It says those companies have made $1 billion of revenue from selling AR-15s which might hamper Democrats’ attempt to ban the firearm. The hearing itself proved that the AR-15 is the most popular rifle in the country. According to the Supreme Court Heller decision, guns in common use are protected under the Second Amendment. That stat means if the AR-15 is not considered in common use, then no other rifle could be regarded as in common use.
The Committee accused firearms sellers of marketing toward children. The Democrat members showed an ad for the JR-15 rifle. The rifle was marketed as a smaller version of the AR-15 rifle. The gun fired a .22LR caliber round. It was sold as a safer way for children to learn how to handle a rifle properly. Democrats also harped on children’s gun safety, insinuating that the firearms industry was using gun safety campaigns to indoctrinate youths.
The gun industry insists that gun safety for children will reduce firearms accidents by teaching proper handling of guns. The Democrat members of the Committee were not impressed. They view anything involving firearms and kids as some type of gateway drug. Democrats even accused video games with guns as some type of gateway to gun culture.
During the hearing, Democrats asked Mr. Daniel about the M&P-15 rifle. They focused on the letters and standing for military and police. Although the “M” does stand for military, the actual military doesn’t use the rifle. They then asked Mr. Daniel about the naming of the gun. Daniel reminded the Committee that Daniel Defense is not the maker of the rifle. The Committee harped on Smith & Wesson not showing up.
Democrats are demanding Smith & Wesson turn over documents about the sale and marketing of the semi-automatic rifle.
Democrats also want to know if Smith & Wesson tracks the use of its products in crimes. The same question was asked to the companies that did show up, and the companies informed Congress that there is no way to track those stats.
Congress wants to know how the company prevents its products from going to problematic dealers. President Joe Biden, in recent months, demanded that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) crackdown on “rogue dealers.” Since then, license revocations have been up by 500%. Both companies stated that they sell to distributors and not directly to gun shops.
Smith & Wesson has not responded to the subpoena as of this writing.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
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