AR-15 Rifle

The AR-15 is a lightweight, magazine-fed, gas-operated, semi-automatic rifle originally developed by ArmaLite Corporation in the 1950s. The 'AR' in AR-15 stands for 'ArmaLite Rifle,' and '15' denotes the 15th design iteration. Due to financial difficulties, ArmaLite sold the patent rights to Colt's Manufacturing Company in 1959. Colt began producing the AR-15 for civilian use in 1964. In 2016, Colt suspended the production of AR-15 rifles for civilian markets, focusing instead on military and law enforcement contracts. The rights to the AR-15 design are now owned by Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc., which is headquartered in Southport, Connecticut. The AR-15 platform has been widely adopted by various manufacturers, leading to a diverse range of models and configurations available in the market.