On Sunday, when 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley entered the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, he carried a version of what the National Rifle Association has proudly called “America’s rifle.” Kelley used his Ruger AR-556, a variant on the enormously popular AR-15, to kill more than two dozen churchgoers. AR-15 variants are perennial favorites for those who perpetrate America’s notorious mass shootings. An AR-15-style rifle similar to the one used by Kelley was the weapon of choice for Adam Lanza, who killed 27 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. James Holmes, who shot almost 100 people in a Colorado movie theater the same year, used one, too. And Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, who massacred attendees of an office party in San Bernardino, California, less than two years ago, also did so with AR-15 variants.

Thanks to the Trump administration, “America’s rifle” is poised to go global.

Now, thanks to President Donald Trump’s administration, “America’s rifle” is poised to go global. In September, senior U.S. officials confirmed that the administration plans to diminish State Department oversight of non-military international firearms sales. Instead, it will give the Department of Commerce jurisdiction over this activity, with the explicit goal of easing regulation and boosting international arms sales. “This will allow us to get in the (small arms sales) game for the first time ever,” an administration official told Reuters, which broke the story. The plan promises to be a boon for American gun manufacturers. Shares of Sturm, Ruger & Co., which produces the rifle used in Sunday’s mass shooting, surged by nearly 15 percent following the September news. Exports currently account for only about 5 percent of the company’s sales. The AR-15 gained its reputation among gun enthusiasts because it is a portable, lightweight, accurate, and customizable semiautomatic weapon — the civilian version of the M-16, the military’s longtime standard-issue rifle. The AR-15 typically carries a 30-round magazine, though 75- to 100-round magazines are available for sale in the U.S. In the aftermath of Sunday’s shooting in Sutherland Springs, dozens of emptied 30-round clips were found littered throughout the First Baptist Church sanctuary. The rifle became commercially available in the U.S. when Congress allowed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban — which singled out the AR-15 specifically — to expire in 2004. In less than 15 years, millions of AR-15 variants have been sold to the American public. Kelley purchased his model in a San Antonio sporting goods store in 2016.

The AR-15 became commercially available in the U.S. when Congress allowed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban to expire in 2004.