Recently, firearms manufacture Colt declared that they will be suspending consumer sales of their classic AR-15 rifle, citing “significant” competition in the modern sporting rifle market. Of course, once the liberal media learned of this, they took a victory lap of sorts on Thursday. Both ABC and CBS highlighted Colt’s decision, with the former seemingly making up a quote from Colt’s CEO.
“The AR-15 is among the most lethal and most popular guns you can buy in America with 11 million currently on the streets,” CBS correspondent Jeff Pegues grimly declared as he began his CBS Evening News report. While he was presenting such rifles as a scourge “on the streets,” the reality was, rifles make up a fraction of gun violence.
Pegues touted the growing “backlash” to “military-style weapons” and the calls from a failed Senate candidate for their confiscation:
The AR-15 style weapon is the gun of choice for many mass shooters. From the massacres at Newtown to Parkland to Las Vegas. But in the wake of these shootings, there has been a backlash against the military-style weapons which can kill several people within seconds. Like this gunman in Dallas three years ago who killed five policemen.
Families of the Newtown victims have sued other gun makers and Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, who represented El Paso in Congress, recently called for the guns to be confiscated.
“Colt's decision comes as many mass retailers have announced they would stop selling guns and ammunition that can be used in assault-style weapons,” he added. CBS also had a misleading on-screen headline that declared "Colt stops making AR-15 for civilians." This suggested they made AR-15s for the military, which as evident by Colt's "military products" page, they don't.
Over on ABC’s World News Tonight, sensationalist anchor David Muir offered up a news brief with a glaring falsehood:
The company, Colt, that created the original AR-15 semiautomatic rifle is now suspending production of that rifle and others for the consumer market. Colt's CEO reaffirming the company's commitment to the Second Amendment, but saying tonight, the demand for, quote, “modern sporting rifles” is down. Several other companies will still make AR-15-style weapons available.
That’s in direct conflict with Pegues’s reporting and Colt’s public statement from CEO Dennis Veilleux. “The fact of the matter is that over the last few years, the market for modern sporting rifles has experienced significant excess manufacturing capacity. Given this level of manufacturing capacity, we believe there is adequate supply for modern sporting rifles for the foreseeable future,” Colt wrote.
Nowhere in Colt’s public statement did it say or even suggest that modern sporting rifles were becoming less popular, as Muir suggested it did.
If anything, the problem could be that Colt wasn’t able to keep up with other manufacturers. As The Washington Free Beacon's firearms policy reporter, Stephen Gutowski mentioned on Twitter, “Colt hasn’t been keeping up for years.”
Gutowski also noted that Colt had recently gone through a bankruptcy and was focusing on “rebuilding their revolver offerings.” A fact acknowledged in their Thursday statement: “Colt’s commitment to the consumer markets, however, is unwavering. We continue to expand our network of dealers across the country and to supply them with expanding lines of the finest quality 1911s and revolvers.”
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
September 19, 2019
6:38:32 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: The company, Colt, that created the original AR-15 semiautomatic rifle is now suspending production of that rifle and others for the consumer market. Colt's CEO reaffirming the company's commitment to the Second Amendment, but saying tonight, the demand for, quote, “modern sporting rifles” is down. Several other companies will still make AR-15-style weapons available.
CBS Evening News
September 19, 2019
6:38:41 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: New tonight, one of America's oldest gunmakers says it’s suspending production of the AR-15 rifle. That model has been used in a number of mass shootings. Jeff Pegues tells us what's behind the company's decision.
[Cuts to video]
JEFF PEGUES: The AR-15 is among the most lethal and most popular guns you can buy in America with 11 million currently on the streets. But in a statement today, Colt, the West Hartford-based company that manufacturers the rifle, announced that it was suspending production for the civilian market because there are already so many weapons out there.
The AR-15 style weapon is the gun of choice for many mass shooters. From the massacres at Newtown to Parkland to Las Vegas. But in the wake of these shootings, there has been a backlash against the military-style weapons which can kill several people within seconds. Like this gunman in Dallas three years ago who killed five policemen.
Families of the Newtown victims have sued other gun makers and Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke, who represented El Paso in Congress, recently called for the guns to be confiscated.
BETO O’ROURKE: Hell, yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.
PEGUES: Colt's decision comes as many mass retailers have announced they would stop selling guns and ammunition that can be used in assault-style weapons.
[Cuts back to like]
A gun-rights advocate we spoke to today dismissed the idea that Colt's decision will affect the sale of AR-15s. A spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation said today that America's appetite for the rifle remains strong. Norah?
O’DONNELL: All right, Jeff Pegues, thank you.
