I began reading this book with a basic knowledge of Glock’s
history but Barrett provides a detailed account of the company’s character and
inner workings, based on his research with industry insiders and Glock
employees. One could say that Gaston Glock was a man who found himself in the
right place at the right time, both in Austria and the US. The initially
unassuming Austrian decided to compete for a government contract to supply
pistols to the Austrian military. Lacking the infrastructural or a priori design path-dependency held by
other companies, a factor later believed to have been a benefit as opposed to a
constraint, he set about designing a unique handgun. His timing in the USA was also
fortuitous – the late 80’s saw many police departments wanting to upgrade their
duty side arms from predominantly 6 shot revolvers to higher capacity pistols.
A number of high profile police shootouts that left the authorities feeling
under-gunned precipitated this review of duty gun capabilities (many of these
events also became slightly embellished).
Many in the US at that stage still saw ‘wonder 9’s’ as Euro-trash; the
all-American 1911 .45 being the only pistol worthy of consideration. This alongside with the
Glock’s unusual features and polymer frame meant that the pistol was initially
met with scepticism. However it wasn’t just good timing that worked in Glock’s
favour, the fact is that the pistol was, and remains, and very ergonomic, ultra-reliable
and user-friendly handgun. It didn’t take the police long to see the light, in
part because of the Glock’s capabilities and in part because of the company's
innovations outside of pistol design.
Barrett’s research reveals a company that was not only
innovative in engineering handguns but one that excelled at marketing and
customer relations. Whether it was advertising style, appeasing large police
departments or navigating the scorched earth between the NRA and anti-gun
activists, Glock never missed a beat when it came to getting their pistols in
the hands of those who could publicise, promote or buy them. All the while they
literally ripped the rug out from underneath the establish giants of the US
handgun market. In addition to the innovation and genius of Glock Inc.’s
guiding executives, the book reveals a company that at times operated in great
secrecy, even between different departments and executives. As one Glock executive
described it, the company had ‘wheels within wheels’ that the top honchos never
wanted to reveal (and there were reasons…).
Part of the intrigue also stems from Glock’s relationships
with pro- and anti-gun movements, politicians and the political weight of large
US police departments. The book provides insight into the convoluted world of
gun politics, policy and law. It is anything but prosaic. Glock has been
subject to numerous legal challenges, some from gross negligence by users or
poorly trained authorities, others from those who saw them as a danger to
society by virtue of them being an extremely effective product. The effectiveness
of the Glock became something of a misappropriated legend, one that led them to
be seen by some as ‘too deadly’.
On this last issue I think Barrett does a thorough job of
critiquing the myriad myths that surround Glock (and he is largely ambivalent
in his bias). ‘Glock’ has become a household name. Few other firearms have been
used as frequently in action movies, lauded in lyrics or been the subject of
pop-fallacy. In fact, other than the AK47 series of assault rifles, probably no other
firearm is as well known by name. As Barrett points out, for journalists or
policy makers to use the word ‘Glock’ shows their ‘street cred’, that they
should be taken seriously, its pop-media currency. Perhaps the first of the Glock
myths was the pistol’s apparent ability to pass security scans because it was ‘plastic’.
While Heckler and Koch preceded Glock by a decade with their polymer framed P9S
and VP70Z, neither sold well. Glock’s were the first ‘plastic pistols’ to go
mainstream and their novelty preceded gross misinformation. Noel Koch’s experiment
in the 1980’s that allowed him to pass airport security with a disassembled Glock
was perhaps the seminal moment for the hysteria that labelled Glock’s as a
menace and elevated threat to public safety. There are some large omissions regarding
his security breech that seldom accompany the story, but I’ll let you read the book! The fear that Glock’s
would become the harbinger of violence on the streets never really came to pass.
In 2002, the last year that authorities were required to release the stats on
handguns seized from criminals in the US, Glock never even made the top 10, and
that after about 15 years of substantial Glock presence in the US market.
I can highly recommend the book; it’s an entertaining and
informative read.
“Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun” by Paul M. Barrett. Crown
Publishing Group, New York.
ISBN: 978-0-307-71993-5
eISBN: 978-0-307-71994-2
©Brian Joubert
Superb review of "Rise of America's Gun"
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