In 1989, the Pentagon started to develop a Special Operations Peculiar Modification (SOPMOD) Kit, in order for special operators to get the most utility out of the firearm they carried. That meant accessorization with more reliable means than duct tape and clamps, and to that end, the kit introduced a rail system that users could attach to the barrel. The rail system was the standard attachment point for other accessories, ranging from special grips to multiple sights to grenade launchers and suppressors. Named after New Jersey’s Picatinny Arsenal and developed in the early 1990s, the Picatinny Rail became the standard rail for accessory mounting. By 1995, the Department of Defense published a specific military standard for accessory rails, built around the picatinny model, which defined dimensions and functions. When the new rails were introduced for the AR-15 platform (including weapons like the M16 and M4), the rails became another tool for a gun enthusiast community that already had experience with—and a market for— modifications of everything from barrel changes (to accommodate different sizes of ammunition) to opposite-side bolt ejectors that protect left-handed users from the spent casings.