US Lawmakers Urge Gun Manufacturers to Testify After Mass Shootings: Committee

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US House Committee on Oversight and Reform said Thursday it has requested the CEOs of three major gun manufacturers to attend its upcoming hearing on gun violence.

“Following the Fourth of July shooting in Highland Park, IL, Chair @RepMaloney sent letters to three major gun manufacturers requesting their appearance at an @OversightDems hearing on July 20, 2022,” the committee wrote on social media.

The letters were addressed to Marty Daniel, the CEO of Daniel Defense; Mark Smith, the president and CEO of Smith & Wesson Brands; and Christopher Killoy, the president and CEO of Sturm, Ruger & Co., The Washington Post reported.

This hearing is the second held by the committee to investigate the gun industry. Witnesses of the Uvalde and Buffalo mass shootings in May shared their experiences at the June 8 hearing. When the first hearing was announced in early June, the committee noted there had already been more than 200 mass shootings in the United States this year.

Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney is requesting the presence of the CEOs at the second hearing because of financial information given to the committee, according to The Washington Post, which acquired a copy of the letter sent to Killoy. She had previously requested five gun manufacturers to provide their gross revenue and profit for sales of AR-15-style semiautomatic rifles; annual advertising and marketing expenses for these guns; annual spending on federal and state lobbying, and funding for the National Rifle Association.

Maloney said the committee’s concerns that gun manufacturers were not taking sufficient precautions to limit the harm caused by their rifles had only grown after receiving the information. In a statement cited by The Washington Post, she said the CEOs needed to explain why they were selling rifles designed for the battlefield to civilians.