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The barrage of anti-gun lawsuits, which culminated (but did not, unfortunately, end) in 1999, forced Colt (and others) to re-evaluate their commercial product lines. Suddenly, another factor was added to the administrative overhead in addition to reliability, marketability, research and testing: additional staff lawyers.

Larry Keane, Senior Vice President and General Counsel to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, estimates lawsuits from municipalities alone cost the industry $225 million. Those costs are on-going. Insurance became a massive burden: not only were policy increases substantial, but deductibles skyrocketed and exclusions compounded – if a manufacturer could find insurance at all. There were less resources for wage increases and new product research. Overall, there was less money for capital investments and both buildings and equipment suffered. According to Keane, “1999 is the year that the entire industry, including Colt’s, was almost destroyed.”

Primarily as a result of the turbulence in the civilian marketplace, Colt dropped its tiny six-shot Mustang in 1999; dropped its small double-action .380 ACP Pony the following year; and let the 9mm Pocket Nine go in 2001. Other models, fully functional and serviceable guns, fell out of Colt’s catalog. Colt, and the industry as a whole, cautiously felt its way forward, but there was a realization that Colt’s brand equity, name and legacy – all built carefully over 150 years – made it a special target for anti-gun activists, specialists in appeasement and pacifists of all stripes.