One Down

Who should I believe: Colt or the experts. Colt makes guns. They have made instruments of death since 1847? Colt, perhaps to test the public's attention span way back then named one of their weapons The Peacemaker. Get it?
The experts, or those who have called themselves that over the years, have made audacious claims in the past, such as "Donald Trump will never be president." It could be the same group or a subset of them who encouraged the "President" to warn Alabama that Hurricane Dorian was on its way to their state.
So maybe you can see my dilemma.
But no matter whom I end up trusting, the bottom line is this: Colt's Manufacturing Company will no longer be making AR-15 rifles for civilian sale. If you listen to Colt, they say, “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." Or, more simply put: we don't need to make any more semi-automatic rifles for the public because the demand has been met. Instead, Colt will turn its attention to the more pressing need of filling their contracts for military and law enforcement customers. The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates there are now about 16 million AR-15s or similar models in the hands of American civilians. Civilians have recently used their AR-15s or similar models to murder dozens in cold blood. 
The experts? “The public is getting very alarmed about what’s happening with assault rifles in the hands of potential mass shooters,” John Donohue, a Stanford Law professor with expertise in gun policy, told TIME. “Colt may just be feeling better to get out of that particular market, and they’re offering this purely economic manufacturing argument rather than addressing the political realities right now as the justification for this decision.” A political reality that includes presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke standing his ground: "Hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47." For this principled statement, the always classy National Rifle Association named  him "AR-15 Salesman of the Year." 
Again, the bottom line is a major manufacturer of assault-type weapons has chosen to stop making them for civilians. I suppose I don't need to care why. I need to care about how many other gun makers are out there who haven't made that decision for any reason at all. Yet.