Editing Colt AR-15 (section)

==History==
{{for|a more detailed list of AR-15 models|List of Colt AR-15 & M16 rifle variants#Colt civilian models}}
[[File:1973 Colt AR15 SP1.jpg|right|thumb|1973 [[Colt's Manufacturing Company|Colt]] AR-15 SP1 rifle with "slab side" lower receiver (lacking raised boss around magazine release button) and original Colt 20-round [[box magazine]]]]
[[File:Colt AR-15 on display at the NFM.jpg|right|thumb|A Colt AR-15 on display at the National Firearms Museum. This example is fitted with an early waffle-patterned 20-round magazine.]]

Due to financial problems, and limitations in terms of manpower and production capacity, ArmaLite sold the [[ArmaLite AR-15|AR-15]] design and the AR-15 [[trademark]] along with the [[ArmaLite AR-10]] to [[Colt's Manufacturing Company]] in 1959.<ref name=gundigest>{{cite web|url=http://www.gundigest.com/article/the-ar-16m16-the-rifle-that-was-never-supposed-to-be |title=AR-15/M16: The Rifle That Was Never Supposed to Be |publisher=Gun Digest |last=Bartocci |first=Christopher R. |date=July 16, 2012 |access-date=June 28, 2018|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019023055/https://gundigest.com/gun-reviews/the-ar-16m16-the-rifle-that-was-never-supposed-to-be|archive-date=October 19, 2022}}</ref> Some of the first sales were of fully automatic Colt AR-15s to the Federation of Malaya and the United Kingdoms in 1959.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek9aXR4Mkik | title=Why you're wrong about M16 and AR-15 nomenclature, with firearms expert Jonathan Ferguson | website=[[YouTube]] | date=August 21, 2024 }}</ref><ref>https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/the-complete-history-of-the-ar-15-rifle {{Bare URL inline|date=August 2024}}</ref>  Colt started selling the semi-automatic version of the [[M16 rifle]] as the Colt AR-15 in 1964.<ref name="SAR-Zimba">{{cite web |last1=Zimba|first1=Jeff|title=The Evolution of the Black Rifle|url=http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=116 |website=Small Arms Review|access-date=14 November 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111152345/https://smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=116|archive-date=November 11, 2017|quote=As early as 1963, Colt started manufacturing this "new" rifle in semiautomatic only with the civilian population and the law enforcement community in mind. Sold as the AR-15 Sporter Model SP1, it was nearly identical to the M16 with the exception of the fire control group.}}</ref><ref name=marriage>{{cite journal |author= Bob Hutton & Bob Forker |title= A Beautiful Marriage: .223 Remington and Colt's AR-15 'Sporter' |journal= Guns & Ammo |date= October 1964}}</ref><ref name="Mann2014">{{cite book|last=Mann|first=Richard A.|title=GunDigest Shooter's Guide to the AR-15|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQw5AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA15|date=30 April 2014|publisher=Krause Publications|location=Iola, Wisconsin|isbn=978-1-4402-3847-5|pages=15–16}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The first mass production version was the Colt AR-15 Sporter, in [[.223 Remington]], with a 20-inch barrel, issued with 5-round magazines.<ref name=marriage/> Colt has since made many different models of AR-15 [[rifle]] and [[carbine]] models, including the AR-15, AR-15A2, AR-15A3, AR-15A4, and others.

Sale of new AR-15s in the US was banned by the [[Federal Assault Weapons Ban]] from 1994 to 2004.  Colt and others continued to sell legally compliant versions during that period.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/13/nyregion/shooting-holes-in-the-assault-weapons-ban-one-rifle-at-a-time.html|title=Shooting Holes in the Assault-Weapons Ban, One Rifle at a Time|last=Roane|first=Kit R.|date=1997-04-13|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-04-10|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> On September 20, 2019, Colt announced that it would no longer produce the AR-15 for private use, due to market saturation. It would still produce the AR-15 for police and military units.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.faz.net/1.6394901|title="Markt übersättigt": Colt beendet Produktion von Sportgewehren|last=Heil|first=Christiane|journal=Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin|access-date=2019-09-21|language=de|issn=0174-4909|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406100300/https://www.faz.net/aktuell/gesellschaft/kriminalitaet/colt-beendet-produktion-von-sportgewehren-16394901.html|archive-date=April 6, 2023|trans-title=Market saturated: Colt ends production of sporting guns}}</ref> By May 2020, changed market conditions encouraged Colt to resume production for sales to private users.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Keefe Report: Colt Now Shipping AR-15s|url=https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2020/6/26/the-keefe-report-colt-now-shipping-ar-15s/|access-date=2020-11-08|website=www.americanrifleman.org|language=en|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405105238/https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2020/6/26/the-keefe-report-colt-now-shipping-ar-15s/|archive-date=April 5, 2023}}</ref>