Eleanor Roosevelt, gun owner

[jimmy the one]

23. colt govt model m1911A1, civilians

straw man: Latter-day compact models aimed at the concealed-carry market are a red herring.

You are wrong, the latter 20th century dates are quite relevant, since they demonstrate an increased production & proliferation of semi-auto handguns during the very time period I have noted (that semi-automatic handguns substantively helped propel the rise in violent crime rate from circa 1960's thru early 1990's).

straw man: Apparently you are unaware that civilians have always been able to purchase the "milspec" models and have done so by the millions, beginning in the early twentieth century

Specious & misleading; they were predominantly produced for military, with small production & purchase by civilians, which does not refute the contention that semi-autos gained in civilian popularity greatly after wwII.
Colt Government Model 1911, a civilian version. In 1929 this pistol was introduced, chambered for a new .38 Super Automatic round. This version has a 9 round magazine capacity. In 1906-1907 the US armed forces announced trials for a new pistol, that would replace a number of older pistols revolvers. Since its introduction it was used in almost every military conflict, including the WWI. In 1924, its modified version, the M1911A1, was adopted by the US Army. During the WWII several millions of these pistols were produced in the USA by various companies. http://www.military-today.com/firearms/m1911.htm

A whopping total of 152,000 Colt Govt m1911A1 models were evidently produced by 1928: .. near mint condition, all original Colt Government Model 1911A1 Pistol from 1928.. this Colt >> manufactured Hartford, Conn in 1928. The serial number range for Colt Government Model Pistols in 1928 was C152,000 to C154,999, which is a small production run of only 3,000 pistols that year.
It is important to note that there was no military 1911A1 production from 1925 until 1936, only commercially available Government Models in the 1911A1 configuration .. Colt took the opportunity to not only capitalize on the popularity of the pistol based on its service in WWI, but to also continue to refine the design for any future military contracts. http://www.newmarketarms.com/mint-early-colt-government-model-1911a1-1928-p-1161.html
Colt began shipping the commercial (Government Model) pistols almost at the same time they began shipping the military m1911's. The first shipment of 50 military m1911's were shipped to the Springfield Armory on 1/4/1912. The first Government Model pistol was shipped on 4/13/1912. A total of 1899 Government Model pistols were sold and shipped during 1912 - all were commercially marked and sold to the general public (unless you count a few personal purchases from military officers of government model pistols, but these too were commercially marked).

One blogger KerryL seems knowledgeable re production, & he pegs early civilian 'govt model' production at 6,000 per two years, about 10% of military production of 60,000, for 1912 & 1913:

Colt's Government Model production was as follows:
1912 C1-C1899 --- 1913 C1900-C5399
Colt's military m1911 production was as follows:
1912 No 1-No 17250 --- 1913 No 17251-No 60400 http://www.gunvaluesboard.com/what-is-my-1911-colt-worth.-third-production-round-c1118..-9...-19076530.html

straw man: civilians have always been able to purchase the "milspec" models and have done so by the millions, beginning in the early twentieth century.

For this to make sense in context, you'd have to show how 'millions' of civilian semi-auto handguns were purchased by civilians prior to wwII, as per what I've written, as well as having displaced revolvers as the civilian handgun of choice. There could've been millions between wwII & 1960's, but that still doesn't disprove the greater rise in popularity & abundance of semi-autos from 1960's on.