It was a weapon that would change the world.And it was invented by a reclusive billionaire who spent most of his later years at a lakefront estate in Velden Am Wörthersee, in southern Austria.Austrian engineer Gaston Glock, who died this week at the age of 94, would see his creation used by armed forces, police, security personnel, gun owners and criminals the world over, BBC News reported.Its rise was cemented by American pop culture and appearances in Hollywood blockbusters including The Matrix Reloaded and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines."Get yourself a Glock and lose that nickel-plated sissy pistol," actor Tommy Lee Jones said in the 1998 movie US Marshals.American rappers Snoop Dogg and Wu-Tang Clan also worked the gun into their rhymes, helping it achieve global cult status.The majority of North American police forces — including Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver — arm their officers with Glocks.Why was it so successful?Glock would design and patent a lightweight 9-millimetre semiautomatic handgun, which could fire 18 rounds and be easily reloaded.It was also made of a nylon-based polymer frame instead of traditional steel.But its most controversial aspect was perhaps its “safe-action” feature, designed to be ready to fire at moment’s notice.“Mr. Glock designed his pistol with three internal safeties — the trigger, firing pin and drop safeties — to ensure that the pistol would perform consistently while providing the best protection against accidental discharge,” according to the company website.By the mid 1980s, Glock pistols were introduced to the US market — and the rest, as they say, is history.The Glock handgun would revolutionize the world of small arms, establishing the brand as the global leader overnight.Paul Barrett, the author of Glock: The Rise of America's Gun, wrote that the weapon had become "the Google of modern civilian handguns: the pioneer brand that defines its product category.".The popularity of the Glock made Mr. Glock a billionaire and added his name to the array of weapons known by their makers: Kalashnikov, Beretta, Colt, Uzi, SIG Sauer and others.Forbes magazine estimated his personal fortune at US $1.1 billion in 2021.Born in 1929, Glock studied mechanical engineering at a college in Vienna.He had not even held a gun since he was conscripted into Germany’s military near the end of The Second World War.In 1963, he founded his own consumer goods firm in the town of Deutsch-Wagram, 20 km outside Vienna.By the early 1980s, Glock had branched into military supplies and decided to answer a call for tenders put out by the Austrian army, which wanted to update its pistols.Without any formal training in firearm design, he devised the first Glock model, the Glock 17, named for being his 17th patent after inventions such as a variation on the collapsible shovel, according to the Glock company.The design was initially mocked for its characteristics, particularly the Glock’s lightweight, polymer frame and blocky metal barrel.Critics in the US called it “as ugly as handgun Tupperware.”But those same characteristics would become powerful selling points.The weapon was significantly lighter, cheaper and more reliable than the models then available.After Glock set up a U.S. plant in Smyrna, Ga., departments began to line up.In 1988, the D.C. police suspended normal bidding procedures and rushed to purchase 4,300 Glocks for US $1.3 million to replace its Smith & Wesson and Colt revolvers.Currently, more than 65% of federal, state and local agencies in the US have Glock pistols, according to the company. The Glock is also used by police and military in nearly 50 countries.But the gun also represented the rise in firepower on America’s streets among gangs, drug networks and others, including many mass shootings in the US.Media-shy Glock hit the headlines several times — notably in 1999 when he survived a botched murder attempt by a former wrestler brandishing a rubber mallet, and years later during his acrimonious divorce from his first wife Helga.Glock had three children from that marriage: a daughter, Brigitte, and sons Gaston Jr. and Robert.He was not a stranger to the society circuit, however, hosting glamorous parties with his second wife, Kathrin, attended by celebrities and politicians.— with files from The Washington Post/CNN Business
