An Austrian engineer has left behind a legacy of empowering Americans in the exercise of their constitutional right to self-defense.
The Associated Press reported that Gaston Glock, developer of the Glock handgun and founder of the company that manufactures it, passed away Wednesday at the age of 94.
According to the company website, its late founder “revolutionized the world of small arms.”
Glock founded his company near Vienna in 1963.
In response to the Austrian Defense Ministry’s call for a lighter, safer and more efficient personal defense handgun, Glock developed a semi-automatic pistol and delivered more than 25,000 to the Austrian military in the early 1980s, according to the AP.
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Glock’s major innovation consisted in keeping everything simple.
“Mr. Glock understood that reliability resides in simplicity, and therefore, he designed his pistol with as few parts as possible, minimizing its complexity,” the Glock website explains.
The company’s U.S. headquarters opened in Smyrna, Georgia, in 1985. Since then, Glock has established a loyal base of American customers and admirers.
Glock’s passing prompted tributes on the social media platform X.
“Rest in Peace to a legend, Gaston Glock,” the NRA posted.
Rest in Peace to a legend, Gaston Glock.
Here is a picture of Mr. Glock circa 1988, demonstrating the operation of a Model 17 for the NRA’s American Rifleman Magazine. pic.twitter.com/VJqDS6nn0c
— NRA (@NRA) December 28, 2023
Tony Kinnett of The Daily Signal put Glock’s passing in both personal and historical context.
“Rest in peace, Gaston Glock, the man who did more for personal protection than any man since Samuel Colt. I’ve spent more time at the range with my 43x than I could count,” Kinnett said.
Rest in peace, Gaston Glock, the man who did more for personal protection than any man since Samuel Colt.
I’ve spent more time at the range with my 43x than I could count. pic.twitter.com/8MEst0N9SR
— Tony Kinnett (@TheTonus) December 27, 2023
Others considered adding to the company’s sales numbers:
RIP…
I should buy a glock in his honor
— BernieBro’nt (@BernieBront) December 27, 2023
The Glock legacy endures in tangible and measurable ways.
Does the Second Amendment protect the most important constitutional right?
For instance, according to Gun Genius, the five top-selling pistols for November on the major online marketplace GunBroker.com included two Glock models. The Glock G19 and G43 ranked third and fifth, respectively.
Above all, however, Glock contributed to something less tangible yet far more important.
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson noted that people will endure a great deal of provocation before fighting back.
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security,” Jefferson wrote.
From that revolutionary sentiment came the Second Amendment.
Thus, when Americans purchase firearms, they affirm their determination to govern themselves.
Much like the Glock pistol, it really is that simple.
