AR-15–style rifle

An AR-15–style rifle is a lightweight <a href="/facts/Semi-automatic_rifle/zrkhqcwG">semi-automatic rifle</a> based on or similar to the <a href="/facts/Colt_AR-15/AePfMHKK">Colt AR-15</a> design. The Colt model removed the <a href="/facts/Selective_fire/4uWp17JX">selective fire</a> feature of its predecessor, the original <a href="/facts/ArmaLite_AR-15/m9Glo8c5">ArmaLite AR-15</a>, which is a scaled-down derivative of the <a href="/facts/ArmaLite_AR-10/B4IaJuzy">AR-10</a> design (by <a href="/facts/Eugene_Stoner/Bm0WQz3K">Eugene Stoner</a>). It is closely related to the military <a href="/facts/M16_rifle/kre1Wcpd">M16 rifle</a>.
<a href="/facts/ArmaLite/DJnKEouq">ArmaLite</a> sold the <a href="/facts/Patent/LjT2bG3A">patent</a> and trademarks for both to <a href="/facts/Colt%2527s_Manufacturing_Company/zXuVKYTP">Colt's Manufacturing Company</a> in 1959 after the military rejected the design in favor of the <a href="/facts/M14_rifle/VXfIjJkh">M14</a>. After most of the patents for the Colt AR-15 expired in 1977, many firearm manufacturers began to produce copies of the rifle under various names. While the patents are expired, Colt has retained the <a href="/facts/Trademark/B23H8IS0">trademark</a> to the AR-15 name and is the sole manufacturer able to label their firearms as such.
From 1994 to 2004, the <a href="/facts/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban/FVveU1Lv">Federal Assault Weapons Ban</a> restricted the sale of the Colt AR-15 and some derivatives in the United States, although it did not affect <a href="/facts/Rifle/H3mJx7U4">rifles</a> with fewer listed features. After the phrase "modern sporting rifles", to be used synonymously with the AR-15 style, was coined in 2009 by the US <a href="/facts/National_Shooting_Sports_Foundation/vPhrnp9L">National Shooting Sports Foundation</a> (NSSF), a firearms trade association, it was quickly adopted by much of the industry.
Beginning in the 2010s, AR-15–style rifles became one of the "most beloved and most vilified rifles" in the United States, according to <a href="/facts/The_New_York_Times/T9marWVX">The New York Times</a>; the rifles have gained infamy due in part to their use in high-profile <a href="/facts/Mass_shootings_in_the_United_States/2MgwFGex">mass shootings</a>. Promoted as "America's rifle" by the <a href="/facts/National_Rifle_Association_of_America/yYLJ8rgL">National Rifle Association of America</a>, their popularity is partially attributable to active restrictions, or proposals to ban or restrict them. They are emblematic as being on the frontline of the <a href="/facts/Gun_politics_in_the_United_States/71Aar0yW">debate over U.S. gun control</a>.

AR-15–style rifle open-in-new

AR-15–style rifle