An interview with the author of "Glock: The Rise of America's Gun"

For the life of me, I’ll never understand why anyone would call a Glock “America’s gun’. The inventor is not American. The proto type was not made in America. The original place of manufacture is not America.

There has to be popular handguns out there that are more “American” then a Glock, right?

Not a Glock bash, just an observation.
 
If you're a gun enthusiast, or a Glock Fan, READ the book, and you'll understand the title.

The book is great, i'm halfway through it and learned how this weapon was developed and became America's Gun. I don't intend to convince anyone to become a Glock Fan, but in order to understand the facts and know what your talking about, read the book.

It talks about the Miami FBI shootout, American gun makers frustration, the first police department to purchase Glocks, NYPD introduction to Glocks, Hollywood and Glocks, its Myths, and a lot more.
 
I read the book a couple weeks ago (and highly recommend it) and I wouldn't hesitate to call the Glock "The American Gun" any more than I would call the hot dog, hamburger and pizza "American Food."
 
I would also recommend reading the book and understanding why its America's gun...

I finished it last night and enjoyed the book. Its a amazing engineering story and details the importance of the Glock and how they forced America vendors to think about next generation gun design. Very interesting prospective on the NRA and other gun lobbyists, both pros and cons.
 
The Glock may not be "America's gun", but, it alone changed the landscape of guns in America. Give Glock credit for that.
 
I own more examples of Glock handguns than I do any other gun-maker but I wouldn't call Glock America's gun no more than I would call a Toyota Camry America's car. History depends on who writes it?
 
For the life of me, I’ll never understand why anyone would call a Glock “America’s gun’. The inventor is not American. The proto type was not made in America. The original place of manufacture is not America.

There has to be popular handguns out there that are more “American” then a Glock, right?

Not a Glock bash, just an observation.
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I hear ya, but I think in this case it means "most widespread"
 
Base on pedigree Glock is not an American Gun, based on how sales took America by storm, its popularity, LE usage, and American Gun companies who tried to copy it because they couldn't compete with Glock, nor could they produce a comparable gun (Chapter 9)... and how its the most recognizable Pistol in America.

When the baby Glocks were introduced even Ayoob, who was a Glock skeptic, started praising Glocks (Chapter 13)
 
There are actually a few guns that can be called America's gun; Winchester made a couple, Colt made one or two I think, certainly Brownings 1911, and in recent years maybe Stoner's M16 might fit in there. Glock does to, not because it was thought up, designed and made here but because it was a game changer in the American gun scene.

And the Toyota or Honda can just as easily be called America's car because in the mid 70's when the American auto industry couldn't respond to consumer needs Honda and Toyota stepped in and changed the game completely.
 
I think "Glock: The Accountants' Gun" would be more appropriate.
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Actually, the book details some pretty pressing reasons that Glock should have hired more competent and honest accountants. It's amazing that someone can just have that volume of money disappear and still be standing.

(I think "Smooth Jazz: The Accountant's Music" is a good topic for discussion elsewhere.)

And the Toyota or Honda can just as easily be called America's car because in the mid 70's when the American auto industry couldn't respond to consumer needs Honda and Toyota stepped in and changed the game completely.
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We should consider the amount of assembly that is done on those cars in America, and the number of jobs here that those companies support. The same could be said of Glock in that respect.

I've read the book. It's really not bad. A few observations:

  • The author isn't really a gun guy, and it shows. However, he's done his research, and there are no glaring technical errors.
  • He tries to toe the line between what he sees as the two "extreme" sides of the gun debate. He recognizes the claims of the gun-control lobby to be largely inflated and specious, but he's also leery of some of the NRA's scare tactics as well.
  • He interjects his own opinions on gun control issues, which I thought odd in a book purporting to be a history. He seems to support restrictions on high-capacity magazines on the grounds that certain public shootings might not have been as bad had the shooter been forced to reload.
  • In spots, he seems more interested in portraying crucial actors as caricatures. He describes S&W's Sherry Collins as "a fallen-away English literature graduate student in her thirties. She smoked enthusiastically and slung profanity with the guys. She also wrote clever ad copy."

All in all, it was a decent read, and I learned a few things, but it could have been better. I give it 4.621 out of 7.834 Tom Servo points.
 
If you're a gun enthusiast, or a Glock Fan, READ the book, and you'll understand the title.

That's not going to happen.

I don't usually judge books by their cover, but their title is another matter.

I wouldn't read "Glocks: Babes Gone Wild!", either.

Although, thinking that over, I'd be a lot more likely to read that book than a book that claimed the Glock was "America's Gun".
 
I wouldn't read "Glocks: Babes Gone Wild!", either.
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Actually, a chapter covering Glock's first appearance at the SHOT Show covers that exact ground.

Nope. I'm not kidding. I have friends who'd been to their parties at the Gold Club in Atlanta.
 
My impression on the book echoes Tom Servo's. It's an interesting look at the history of the company, and it even is quite educational on some points. It was a good product at a sweet price at the perfect time, and the upstart pistol from a curtain rod maker managed to eat the lunch of companies who have been making guns since Gaston Glock's grandparents were children. In fact, judging by how things came down, you have to wonder how, exactly, a company as badly run as Glock managed to pull this off; it took a rather large amount of apathy on the part of more traditional gunmakers to provide this opportunity, and it's also a testament to the quality of the gun that it was able to overcome a complete lack of experience on the part of the inventor.

The author isn't a firearms enthusiast, and it shows; at times you wonder if he's trying to suppress gun control leanings, and at others you can tell that he found the arguments of that bunch ludicrous. It's a little bizarre that way.

And yet, I do see why the author made the case for it being America's Gun. While it wasn't conceived here, it is the USA and the law enforcement and commercial markets that brought such great success to the company. Without America's love for the product, the Glock doesn't reach the levels of success it has seen. Moreover, the lack of any competing pistol from US gunmakers for years after the Glock's intro (in fact, you can make a good case that many gunmakers have only finally managed to bring out truly competitive choices in the last decade or so... over twenty years after the G17's introduction) meant it made HUGE inroads into the US market. And that, I think, gives it possible credibility as America's Gun. Not that the 1911 isn't, but that it definitely had to move over and make room. I'd probably even expect more Glocks are sold to US owners than 1911s- the market has spoken, and the Glock is preferred.*

*I even say this as a 1911 guy. I don't even own a Glock. But it's pretty clear which way the market has gone.
 
I think "Glock: The Accountants' Gun" would be more appropriate.
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Exactly. There is nothing "American" about Glock, other than the fact that it became popular in America because it was a reliable import that was marketed very well and sold at a low price.

In that case, we should call the Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic "America's Car."
 
Exactly. There is nothing "American" about Glock, other than the fact that it became popular in America because it was a reliable import that was marketed very well and sold at a low price.

In that case, we should call the Toyota Corolla or Honda Civic "America's Car."
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There's a big difference between something being an "American Gun" (or car) and it being "America's Gun" (ditto).

With the first, it is iconic of the culture, born out of and joined at the hip to America. With the second, it is the choice of America. The former is native, the latter can be an import.

The 1911 (Ford Mustang, or Chevy Corvette, etc.) may well be the quintessential "American Gun" (or car). But going by what Americans actually CHOSE, then it's the Glock (or Corolla/Civic).
 
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