
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 19, 1990                   TAG: 9004190333
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

COLT STARTS MAKING ASSAULT RIFLES AGAIN

One year after Colt Firearms stopped civilian sales of the controversial AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, the new owners of the Hartford, Conn., firm have begun producing a new, modified version of the nation's most popular military-style assault weapon.

The decision by the renamed Colt's Manufacturing Co. has revived debate over the adequacy of the Bush administration's move last year to halt import of assault weapons without placing similar curbs on domestic production.

In a letter to Gov. William A. O'Neill this week, Handgun Control Inc. President Sarah Brady said the new rifle, which the company calls the "Sporter," is "virtually identical" to the AR-15 and it would be banned from entering the country if it were produced abroad. - Washington Post

by CNB