Glock: The Rise of America's Gun [Paperback]

The Glock pistol is America’s Gun. It has been rhapsodized by hip-hop artists and coveted by cops and crooks alike. Created in 1982 by Gaston Glock, the pistol arrived in America at a fortuitous time. Law enforcement agencies had concluded that their agents and officers, armed with standard six-round revolvers, were getting outgunned by drug dealers with semi-automatic pistols; they needed a new gun. With its lightweight plastic frame and large-capacity spring-action magazine, the Glock was the gun of the future. You could drop it underwater, toss it from a helicopter, or leave it out in the snow, and it would still fire. It was reliable, accurate, lightweight, and cheaper to produce than Smith and Wesson’s revolver.
 
Filled with corporate intrigue, political maneuvering, Hollywood glitz, bloody shoot-outs—and an attempt on Gaston Glock’s life by a former lieutenant—Glockis not only the inside account of how Glock the company went about marketing its pistol to police agencies and later the public, but also a compelling chronicle of the evolution of gun culture in America.

Contents 
CHAPTER 1
SHOOTOUT IN MIAMI
1
 
CHAPTER 2
“PISTOL OF THE FUTURE”
6
 
CHAPTER 3
“ONE UGLY AND ALL- BUSINESS- LOOKING PIECE OF
SELF- DEFENSE HARDWARE”
20
 
CHAPTER 4
“PLASTIC PERFECTION”
25
 
CHAPTER 5
“HIJACKER’S SPECIAL”
33
 
CHAPTER 6
“SUPER GUN”
51
 
CHAPTER 7
GOING HOLLYWOOD
68
 
CHAPTER 8
THE MARK OF CAIN
84
 
CHAPTER 9
“COPY THE MOTHERFUCKER”
92
 
CHAPTER 10
MASSACRE IN K ILLEEN
106
 
CHAPTER 11
LAWYERS, GUNS, AND MONEY
116
 
CHAPTER 12
“KA- BOOM”
130
 
CHAPTER 13
POCKET ROCKETS
149
 
CHAPTER 14
“Ml³.