Gun maker Colt Defense and its creditors are close to a deal on a plan to bring the company out of bankruptcy, but if it fails, the business will go on the auction block next month, a company lawyer told a judge on Thursday. The company’s private equity owner has been battling its bondholders for control of the West Hartford, Connecticut-based business, and the parties are pressured by Colt’s dwindling cash. “It’s fair to say the parties are very close to a deal,” Colt lawyer John Rapisardi told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.