Gun manufacturer Colt says it plans to suspend production of AR-15-style rifles for the civilian market. The company plans to to fulfilling its police and military contracts.

The national debate on gun restrictions has largely focused on semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15 and other so-called 鈥渁ssault weapons,鈥� because of their use in high-profile mass shootings.

Colt says the decision is not a political one.

CEO Dennis Veilleux that the company is 鈥渁 stout supporter of the Second Amendment,鈥� but that the market for AR-15-style rifles is saturated.

鈥淚t is not a robust market of lots of people purchasing assault-type weapons,鈥� said Robert Spitzer, a political science professor at SUNY Cortland who writes often on guns. 鈥淪o part of this, at least, is a marketing decision. Lots of companies make these sorts of weapons and they鈥檙e available fairly cheaply just because of competition.鈥�

Colt, which is based in West Hartford, Connecticut, said that sales of its AR-15 models have been declining. But it also maintains that it could resume selling the rifles to civilians in the future.

Just hours after Colt released a statement on its shift away from the civilian market, the it had awarded the company a $41.9 million contract to produce rifles for foreign military sales.

America鈥檚 Rifle

AR-15-style rifles are a political lightning rod.

Colt has faced criticism from gun rights supporters for the change in direction.

Meanwhile, former Rep. Beto O鈥橰ourke made waves at a for saying, 鈥淗ell, yes, we鈥檙e going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.鈥�

鈥淧olitically speaking, these weapons have come to be seen as sort of at the core of America鈥檚 gun problem,鈥� Spitzer said, 鈥渁nd that is attributable to the fact that they have increasingly been used by mass shooters, even though they represent a small percentage of guns in America.鈥�

Colt has a . The company purchased the plans for the gun from its original manufacturer in the 1950s and saw it rise to become one of the .

Mark Oliva, director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, says Colt鈥檚 decision does not necessarily spell doom for the AR-15, which is manufactured by companies around the world.

鈥淐olt has made a business decision that鈥檚 going to be in the best interest of their company 鈥� to be able to provide services to government contracts, to be able to continue to pursue those with law enforcement and the military,鈥� Oliva said. 鈥淏ut obviously they have chosen, at the time, to stop sales to the civilian market. It鈥檚 an individual business decision. I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 something that鈥檚 indicative of the firearms market itself.鈥�

Guns & America鈥檚 Jeremy Bernfeld contributed to this story. is a public media reporting project on the role of guns in American life.

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