Last month, New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney summoned firearms manufacturers to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform committee that she chairs. Ruger CEO Chris Killoy and Daniel Defense’s Marty Daniel appeared and parried, as best they could, the ignorance, misinformation and lies about the guns they make, the companies they run, and the industry of which they are a part.

It was every bit the star chamber affair everyone knew it would be, with committee Democrats attacking both the First and Second Amendments while smearing gun makers with falsehoods and displaying their impressive level of ignorance about the industry and the products gun makers produce.

One intended target, Smith & Wesson CEO Mark Smith, declined Chairwoman Maloney’s “invitation” to participate. He apparently saw no reason to subject himself or his company to the ritual abuse and smears he knew would be directed his way.

Maloney didn’t take the snub well. It seems that telling an endangered legislator that you won’t participate in her made-for-the-media dog-and-pony show can have consequences. A few days later, Maloney issued subpoenas, hoping to extract detailed sales and marketing information from Smith & Wesson on the AR pattern rifles that she can use to harm the publicly traded company and further her goal of limiting Americans’ gun rights.

Yesterday, CEO Smith fired back, issuing the following statement . . .

A number of politicians and their lobbying partners in the media have recently sought to disparage Smith & Wesson. Some have had the audacity to suggest that after they have vilified, undermined and defunded law enforcement for years, supported prosecutors who refuse to hold criminals accountable for their actions, overseen the decay of our country’s mental health infrastructure, and generally promoted a culture of lawlessness, Smith & Wesson and other firearm manufacturers are somehow responsible for the crime wave that has predictably resulted from these destructive policies. But they are the ones to blame for the surge in violence and lawlessness, and they seek to avoid any responsibility for the crisis of violence they have created by attempting to shift the blame to Smith & Wesson, other firearm manufacturers and law-abiding gun owners.

It is no surprise that the cities suffering most from violent crime are the very same cities that have promoted irresponsible, soft-on-crime policies that often treat criminals as victims and victims as criminals. Many of these same cities also maintain the strictest gun laws in the nation.

But rather than confront the failure of their policies, certain politicians have sought more laws restricting the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, while simultaneously continuing to undermine our institutions of law and order. And to suppress the truth, some now seek to prohibit firearm manufacturers and supporters of the 2nd Amendment from advertising products in a manner designed to remind law-abiding citizens that they have a Constitutional right to bear arms in defense of themselves and their families.

To be clear, a Smith & Wesson firearm has never broken into a home; a Smith & Wesson firearm has never assaulted a woman out for a late-night run in the city; a Smith & Wesson firearm has never carjacked an unsuspecting driver stopped at a traffic light.

Instead, Smith & Wesson provides these citizens with the means to protect themselves and their families.

We are proud of our 170-year history. We are proud of the commitment of our employees to making a quality product. We are proud to provide law-abiding citizens and law enforcement – our customers – with the tools to provide for their security and independence. We are proud of our responsible business practices.

We will continue to work alongside law enforcement, community leaders and lawmakers who are genuinely interested in creating safe neighborhoods. We will engage those who genuinely seek productive discussions, not a means of scoring political points. We will continue informing law-abiding citizens that they have a Constitutionally-protected right to defend themselves and their families. We will never back down in our defense of the 2nd Amendment.

Smith & Wesson – EMPOWERING AMERICANS.

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58 COMMENTS

  1. Good for S&W. We need to start calling out the lies and misinformation that democrats and gun grabbers spew.

    • Heard it all before S&W. Until Gun Control is put on the Hot Seat and questioned about its connection with racism and genocide then Gun Control skates by without a scratch. Anything short of calling Gun Control out is close but no cigar.

      • Debbie, continue to comment freely as is your right, but you are certainly a one trick pony.

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      • First thought in my head as I read Smith’s statement: hey buddy, before you wrench your shoulder patting yourself on the back, tell me again about that hillary hole?

    • It is good to see that S&W has come out strong. As a corporate entity they have a lot to atone for when under British control they nearly cause the collapse of gun makers by settling with the Clinton Administration. In case no one has noticed the lawsuit liability war against the arms makers is back after having been beaten back for 20 years.

  2. Bravo!! Wish all CEO’s in ALL businesses would take the same stand and tell em to take their “made for media” sh*t shows and shove em!!

    • Good for this ceo! Planning on shooting my M&P Sport perhaps today if my old buddy shows up! Listed on the top 5 AR bang for the buck by Classic Firearms & SootchOO yesterday😎

  4. “We will continue informing law-abiding citizens that they have a Constitutionally-protected right to defend themselves and their families. We will never back down in our defense of the 2nd Amendment.

    Smith & Wesson – EMPOWERING AMERICANS.”

    If there’s one thing the Leftist Scum ™ (and their ilk) cannot allow to be tolerated, it’s self-reliance.

    Why?

    Because it puts them out of a job. And a job they can never lose is what they crave… 🙁

  5. “…the AR pattern rifles that she can use to harm the public…”
    edited and out of context, she still probably feels this way.

  8. Boy, he really put it on her. I laughed so hard my internal locking system almost had me disabled.

  9. Kudos to Mr. Smith, a citizen, for not being at an elected official’s beck and call. Besides, isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?

  10. Well been looking for a .40sw/357 sig option and I seem to remember most of the Smith and Wesson options are competitively priced with glocks so time to do some research.

  11. They were probably hoping for a 90s era Ruger and Colt response when they scheduled the hearing

    The Fudds of old are dead. Ironically it’s the gun control crowd that killed them.

      • It will, and it will be *glorious* to watch the look on that hag’s (Hochul) face when it happens…

    • Shire-man,

      I frequently hear from anti-gun folks about how we 2A people “won’t compromise”, and are “extremists”. My usual answer is “You want to know why? Look in the f***in’ mirror! If you want to tell me I ‘don’t care about children dying’, don’t expect me to treat you as being serious; you’re just virtue-signaling’. ” They tend to get offended. Unfortunately, I’m all out of f***s to give.

      People (politicians, anti-gunners, Leftist/fascists – ah, but I repeat myself!) have forgotten what the Constitution is all about. As Potter Stewart is alleged to have said, regarding the 1A, “what it means is, ‘the government can’t f*** with freedom of speech!!'”. Would that Clarence Thomas would have been that eloquent about the 2A.

    • I say BRAVO to S&W’s Mark Smith. I’m old enough to remember when the British holding company that owned Smith and Wesson caved to the extortion tactics of the slimy and despicable bill klinton. That darn near destroyed the venerable S&W name.

      I’m a history guy, and to me, seeing the S&W brand brought low by those gutless Brits just about broke my heart.

      What a difference, and breath of fresh air Mr. Smith’s words are. BRAVO, sir. – DixieBoy

      • Yep, and the guys butt that they kissed was none other than Andy Cuomo, then head of HUD. I remember the line at the S&W layout at the NRA AMs, think it was in Philly that year. The line was about a mile long, people waiting to let Jinks and other execs know exactly what they really thought. Guys inside the area were shell-shocked.

        Smith’s reply is exactly on point, as are the S&W radio ads I’ve been hearing all summer. Good for them, and may all the other makers fall in line and stand not only for the Second Amendment, but for the American public.

  12. I’m glad he’s pushing back publicly. Now, put your tax dollars to work for a State that isn’t trying to run you out of business and criminalize your customers. Leave Massachusetts. Same goes for Springfield in Illinois. Les Baer did the right thing and so can SA.

  13. Keep fighting to keep your 2A rights. We lost any rights here in the UK years ago. We cannot defend ourselves or our homes without fear of getting prosecuted if we use excessive force. So if you are a senior citizen and thugs break into your home you will likely be seriously injured or killed and just become a statistic. Our police farce are willing to come out and arrest you if you insult someone on social media but if your car is stolen or you are being burgled they will likely not come out. In any event the perpetrators will be long gone. There will be a local news report mentioning your sad demise while the scum will go unpunished. If you lose your rights your country will be well and truly finished.

    • John, have you read Albert L J Hall, a common tater on this board?

      Your continued posts would be a welcome counterpoint to that fake Brit’s mindless drivel.

    • “We lost any rights here in the UK years ago. We cannot defend ourselves or our homes without fear of getting prosecuted if we use excessive force.”

      Start your own grassroots political movement.

      I’m serious, it can work…

    • Even worse if you join 4 pride flags to make a swastika and someone takes offence. They will send not less than 7 officers including armed police to arrest you for thought crimes.

      Meanwhile ignoring robbery and assault because of inadequate manpower.

      • If the manpower is indeed inadequate, I’d think it’d be fairly simple for a determined bunch of Baja Oz citizens to overwhelm the gendarmes with such protests. Give your chick some more grey hairs along the way.

      • With a gentlemen’s agreement with your friends and neighbors: They come for one of us, they come for ALL of us.

  14. WHY DO THIS NOW?….All gun companies should have been very aggressive a whole lot sooner!…THEY should have been much more assertive and forceful in the House hearings!…They all were whipped like plow mules in front of the public…People don”t care about statements in print…People want to see live action…BETTER LATE THAN NEVER I SUPPOSE…Gun Companies better adopt Democrats tactics or they will continue to lose …THEY all must counter-punch when it counts, during the battles…Not after, its over…SEND SOMEONE WITH GUTS FROM NOW ON!

    • So- when someone does the right thing you still want to complain??

      Really? Watching too many episodes of The View, I think.

  15. I love this! I think I will go out and show my support of S&W by buying that new 686 at my local FFL.

  16. Thank God for S&W responding like this. The rest of the 2A community needs to follow this lead. Being weak will only end at the bottom.

  17. What I’m most looking forward to in 2023 is the knowledge that we’re guaranteed to have to hear from Nadler or Maloney but not both. At least one of them will be gone. Always entertaining to watch them try to attack each other’s policies when there isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between them.

    • “At least one of them will be gone.”

      Hey, plenty of traffic accidents, and airplanes have been known to crash, too… 😉

    • Only took losing a congressional seat due to massive depopulation over the last decade with illegals being the only reason we didn’t lose two seats.

  18. Has this Maloney tyrant gone after Sig yet? She’s probably heard that they supply our military, but I bet she had to be told this.

  19. I’ve been saying for years where are the big gun companies on this crap? Guns, ammo, powder,and all the other big names in this game. Optics, accessories even clothing. There a lot of organizations that need to get it together.
    Stand up, be loud fight back their the ones the left want out of business.
    Maybe this will help some more ceo’s to grow a pair and fight back.

  20. I’ve been saying for years now that the time for being nice nice Mr. Rational Calm person is long gone. Remember: “The best defense is a good offense”
    I’m long over explaining ANYTHING to antis. If a person is uninformed, that’s one thing but conversing with CNN saturated anti-gun buffoons is long over for me.
    I have a saying that goes like this: Don’t try to reason with the unreasonable. That means don’t argue with drunks, meth-heads, drug addicts, stupid f—-ing kids and anti-gun zealots. Facts, rational points, ideas and concepts mean ZILTCH to them. Save your breath and tell them to eat sh–, FO & die, go to he– and go kill yourselves.
    Save your sanity.

  22. “To be clear, a Smith & Wesson firearm has never broken into a home; a Smith & Wesson firearm has never assaulted a woman out for a late-night run in the city; a Smith & Wesson firearm has never carjacked an unsuspecting driver stopped at a traffic light.”

    Not including things like stabbing directly at Congress itself like “a Smith & Wesson firearm has never driven a car off a bridge and abandoned the other occupant to death; a Smith & Wesson firearm has never had a adulterous affair with a spy for a foreign government or hired one to be its chauffeur” was a missed opportunity here.

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