[WATCH] NY Lawmaker Calls Out Gun Makers For Not Taking Responsibility In Mass Shootings
House Oversight Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) gave the heads of two gun manufacturing companies a proper grilling on Capitol Hill Wednesday amid a summer surge of mass shootings across the country.
The hearing came as House Democrats revealed the gun industry has raked in more than $1 billion from the sale of semi-automatic weapons over the last decade, according to their own investigation.
The CEOs of Sturm, Ruger, and Company, as well as Daniel Defense CEO Marty Daniel, both took questions from lawmakers, including whether they believe they have any responsibility for the swath of mass shootings.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney called out the CEO of Smith & Wesson, the company whose guns were used in the Highland Park & Parkland mass shootings, for going ‘back on his word’ & not showing up to testify before House lawmakers pic.twitter.com/05LmkoVdCM
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) July 27, 2022
The hearing featured recorded statements from those affected by the recent shootings, including the fiance of a man killed at the Tops grocery store in Buffalo, where an 18-year-old gunman is accused of killing 10 people in a racially motivated attack. “What are you going to make sure that your products don’t get into the hands of a white supremacist mass shooter ever again who will take a child’s father away?” Tracey Maciulewicz asked in her video statement, posing the question to gun makers.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney: 'How many more American children need to die before your [companies] will stop selling assault weapons to civilians?’
Gun execs: 🤷 pic.twitter.com/aTcinMaN4A
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) July 27, 2022
The gun CEOs and Republicans on the committee pushed back with their usual rhetoric while questioning the purpose of the hearing and arguing it is not the guns that are the problem. “These acts are committed by murderers,” Marty Daniel said. “I believe that these murders are local problems that have to be solved locally.” Daniel Defense is the company that made the rifle the Uvalde gunman used to kill 19 children and two teachers. “Gun manufacturers do not cause violent crime. Criminals cause violent crime,” Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer echoed.
Car makers are held liable when automobiles kill people
In fact, just about every business is held accountable
Know what industry isn’t
Though their products killed almost 49,000 people in 2021
Firearms
Listen to @RepMaloney#BanAssaultWeaponsNowhttps://t.co/Ppr1IzEJ5e
— Adam Cohen Lawyers for Good Government #DemCast (@axidentaliberal) July 31, 2022
Rep. Maloney told MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin that she thinks “the American people should know that a record number of Americans are dying from gun violence while these gun manufacturers reap record profits and are not taking any responsibility.”