The Glock

The "cultural context" of the Glock, one of the best-selling handguns in America, is captured in a new book by Paul M. Barrett, reports Carol Memmott in USA Today (1/5/12). Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun, offers a “succinct and fascinating study of a weapon created by an Austrian businessman who, before he sold guns, made curtain rods and door hinges.” Gaston Glock created the pistol that “would become the weapon of choice for the Austrian Army” in 1982. It featured a “large-capacity spring-action magazine,” and “its quick reload, its reliability and its accuracy” soon attracted the interest of “law enforcement agencies around the world.”

As the Glock became a favorite of US police departments, “the gun-buying public followed suit. And like countless other consumer fads … the Glock, with its black matte finish and boxy shape, found its way into the popular culture.” Bruce Willis lauded its firepower” in 1990′s Die Hard 2 and in 1998′s US Marshals, Tommy Lee Jones told Robert Downey Jr. to get rid of his Taurus PT945 and ‘get yourself a Glock and lose that nickel-plated sissy pistol’.”

The Glock went on to be featured in rap lyrics and videos, while “authors like Elmore Leonard dropped Glocks into their novels. Prime-time TV cops began carrying them.” And then there’s real life: Saddam Hussein had Glock on him “when he was pulled out of his hidey-hole in 2003,” and when six people where killed and Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was injured last year, the gunman used a Glock. The book also includes a biography of Gaston Glock as well as “how the business missteps of Smith & Wesson, Colt, Beretta and other gunmakers helped Glock roll over all of them.”