Gaston Glock (born 19 July 1929) is an Austrian engineer and businessman who is the founder of the company

Glock Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...

, who are best known for developing the

Glock pistol Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was th ...

in 1981.

Manufacturing

Glock began as a manufacturer of

curtain rod A curtain rod, curtain rail, curtain pole, or traverse rod is a device used to suspend curtains, usually above windows or along the edges of showers or bathtubs, though also wherever curtains might be used. When found in bathrooms, curtain rods ...

s in the 1960s, and

knives A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...

for the Austrian military in the 1970s, and did not design or manufacture a

firearm A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

until he was 52 years old. He already had experience with

polymer A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...

s as a result of his previous business ventures. In 1980, he bought an injection-moulding machine to manufacture handles and sheaths for the field knives he was making for the Austrian army in his

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

workshop. His earliest employees were from the camera industry and experienced in producing polymer components. His first pistol took one year to produce from the design and concept stage to production, and he applied for an Austrian patent in April 1981 for the pistol known as the

17.

Personal life

Glock married Helga Glock in 1958, and they co-founded the family business in 1963. They divorced in 2011 and went into litigation over accusations that Glock engaged in racketeering. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2017. Glock supports different charities in Austria, having donated over one million euros. He also was quoted for giving funds to the

Freedom Party of Austria The Freedom Party of Austria (german: Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Austria. It was led by Norbert Hofer from September 2019 to 1 June 2021.Staff (1 June 2021"Aust ...

Murder attempt

In July 1999, Glock suspected that Charles Ewert, one of his closest financial advisers, had been

embezzling Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

funds. Glock confronted Ewert, who had hired a French mercenary (aged 67) to murder Glock with a rubber

mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and proport ...

in a car park, in an attempt to make it look like an accident. Glock was hit in the head but able to fight back, punching the man until he collapsed on top of Glock. Both Ewert and the assassin were convicted of attempted murder and sent to prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Glock, Gaston Firearm designers People from Gänserndorf District 1929 births Living people