Colt Holsters It
Colt's Manufacturing invented the six-shooter in the 19th century. The
company's Colt .45 - "the six-shooter that won the West" - has become
legendary in countless westerns.
Now, however, the 144-year-old company is halting virtually all of its
retail business -- because of the threat of liability lawsuits.
Colt has announced that, from now on, it will sell guns almost exclusively
to government agencies and the military. Retail sales to civilians -
formerly 30% of the company's business -- will now be limited to special
collectors' editions.
Colt is currently facing 28 lawsuits from cities, counties, and others. The
lawsuits are similar to the recent punitive lawsuits against tobacco
companies. The real, though unstated, purpose of these lawsuits is to force
gun makers out of business. In the case of Colt, they are succeeding.
The threat posed by such lawsuits
to the right to keep and bear arms is very real. As the Augusta, Georgia
"Chronicle" newspaper said of the Colt cave-in: "If enough firms do that,
handguns could become so scarce or expensive that the Second Amendment
right to own and bear them would be meaningless."
(Sources: Associated Press / Augusta Chronicle)
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