The AR-15 was created for the U.S. military in the 1950s
No it wasn't. The AR-15 IS and was ALWAYS strictly a civilian rifle. Not one military in the world has ever adopted the AR-15.
Civilian AR-15s sold in the U.S. are semiautomatic.
No. ALL AR-15's are civilian and are semiautomatic. What the military used are M-16s and now M-4s. They have select fire capability. They are NOT AR-15s.
The article keeps talking about "civilian versions of the AR-15." They're ALL civilian versions or they are not AR-15s. There's no such thing as a military version of an AR-15. Those are not AR-15s.
These nuances will fly right over the heads of your average journalists.