Colt, a U.S. firearms company that traces its history to the 1830s, announced Thursday that it would suspend the production of rifles for the civilian market — including the AR-15, a weapon infamous for its popularity among the country’s mass shooters.
There are already so many of the weapons in the country that the market is saturated and executives decided “it is good sense to follow consumer demand,” the manufacturer’s president and chief executive said in a statement.
“Given this level of manufacturing capacity, we believe there is adequate supply for modern sporting rifles for the foreseeable future,” Dennis Veilleux said, adding that the pivot was not permanent.
