Glock pistols have a special reputation, especially in the USA – security forces use them and Hollywood has also immortalized them in many films. Now its media-shy developer, the Austrian Gaston Glock, has died.
In the 1980s, the Glock 17 pistol revolutionized the firearms market. It was lighter, more robust, more efficient and cheaper to produce than other handguns. She also had a large magazine. The fact that part of the housing was made of plastic instead of metal caused a stir and debate. It was developed, manufactured and sold by the industrialist Gaston Glock. The Austrian has now died at the age of 94, as his company announced.
Until the development of the Glock 17, the Viennese native had no experience with firearms. However, a tender from the Austrian Armed Forces appealed to the engineer. He built the weapon in a garage in the municipality of Deutsch-Wagram near Vienna. His pistol was lighter, more robust, more efficient and cheaper to produce than other handguns. She also had a large magazine.
In the USA, the Glock was initially viewed with skepticism, but quickly became widespread among the police, FBI and CIA as well as among security forces and private users worldwide. She has repeatedly played a role in Hollywood films and popular culture. Demand grew so much that Glock built its own factory in the USA.
Glock’s entrepreneurial success can also be attributed to the fact that he kept production under control. Not only the weapons, but also the production machines are still manufactured by the company itself.
One of the wealthiest Austrians
Little is known about Glock’s private life. He was always shy of the media and publicity. He was born in Vienna in 1929 into modest circumstances. At the age of 15, he is said to have been drafted into the Wehrmacht for a short time during the Second World War. He then graduated from a technical college and worked for companies that manufactured drills and car radiators. His relatively late breakthrough in his early 50s made him one of the richest Austrians. In 2021, “Forbes” estimated the family’s assets at 1.1 billion euros.
In 1999, an attempted assassination attempt on him in the vicinity of international arms deals in the underground car park of a Luxembourg office complex made headlines. A former French Foreign Legion soldier is said to have tried to kill Glock on behalf of a former business partner. The men received long prison sentences.
A marital dispute with his first wife occupied the courts, and in 2011 he divorced in order to marry his girlfriend. She took over the chairmanship of the supervisory board of Glock GmbH. His family felt pushed out of the company.
In one of his few interviews, Glock commented on the fact that criminals also repeatedly use one of the 30 versions of the pistol: “Weapons can provide security, but of course they can also take away security if they are in the wrong hands,” Glock told the magazine ” News” in 2011.