On Monday, the CEO of gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson attributed a "and their lobbying partners in the media" to politicians' "crisis of violence" two weeks after House lawmakers subpoenaed the firm for information regarding the manufacture and sale of its AR-15-style firearms.

In a statement shared on Twitter, Mark Smith said of politicians, "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,"

Recent mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York, prompted the House Oversight and Reform Committee to investigate gun violence and the arms business. Smith recently denied an invitation to testify before the committee.

Then, Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-New York) issued a subpoena for records about its AR-15-style guns to Smith's firm.

In a letter informing Smith of the subpoena, Maloney stated, "Your company collects hundreds of millions of dollars selling assault weapons that are used in mass shootings, including the horrific murder of seven Americans and the wounding of dozens more during a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois,"

Maloney explained that the subpoena was issued in response to Smith's "unwillingness to voluntarily comply" with the investigation and his refusal to testify about Smith & Wesson's "troubling business practices" and disclose information about the sale of assault weapons to civilians.

Smith & Wesson, along with Bushmaster, Daniel Defense, Sig Sauer, and Sturm, Ruger & Co., is one of five prominent U.S. manufacturers whose semi-automatic guns have been used in mass shootings.

In the previous decade, hundreds of thousands of assault-style weapons have been purchased by American civilians, according to a new report by the committee.

Maloney has criticized gun makers for their "deeply disturbing, exploitative and reckless" marketing strategies aimed toward young men.

Smith, though, accused legislators on Monday of banning "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."

He claimed that politicians and the media encouraged incompetent prosecutors and "vilified, undermined and defunded law enforcement," fostering a "culture of lawlessness."

"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," Smith wrote in response to the claim that the gun manufacturer equips victims for self-defense.