Colt is famed as one of the first major manufacturers of AR-15 and M-16 rifles, with the company equipping military service members in Vietnam and subsequent wars. Česká Zbrojovka Group SE has acquired Colt for $220 million, acquiring a 100% holding of the American gunsmith. Colt bought the patent and trademark from Armalite in 1959 and began commercial sales of the rifles five years later.One of the most legendary firearms companies in American history is now a subsidiary of a Czech Republic-based corporation. The AR-15 was designed in the 1950s by Eugene Stoner, who was working for Armalite, a small-arms engineering firm in California. “Given this level of manufacturing capacity, we believe there is adequate supply for modern sporting rifles for the foreseeable future.” “The fact of the matter is that over the last few years, the market for modern sporting rifles has experienced significant excess manufacturing capacity,” said Colt. For every 100 newly-manufactured firearms sold in the U.S., about 35 were estimated to be AR-style rifles, Bloomberg reported last year. High demand for the rifles had inspired a slew of manufacturers to come out with their own versions at competitive prices, and now that demand is drying up. Instead, Colt said their decision was a result of the AR-15 bubble bursting.
Recent Gallup polling found that 56% of Americans favored banning the sale of AR-15s. Some of the deadliest mass shootings in recent years have involved AR-style weapons, including the Parkland school shooting that left 17 dead, the shooting at a country music festival in Las Vegas shooting that left 58 dead, and the shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school that left 26 dead. Colt didn’t mention anything about the raging national debate over gun control following a string of mass shootings this summer that left more than 50 dead, all of which featured military-grade weapons.
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