Creator of the Glock Handgun Passes Away

(USNewsBreak.com) – Gaston Glock developed the GLOCK brand in Austria in 1963. In the 1980s, he invented the handgun, originally designed for the country’s military and law enforcement. It grew in popularity over the next few years, reaching the US market in 1985. By 2017, the majority of the handguns in the United States, an estimated 65%, were Glocks. The founder recently passed away, leaving behind a legacy.

On Wednesday, December 27, Gaston Glock died at the age of 94, according to a brief statement on the company’s website. It gave no information about his death but paid tribute to his success “in establishing the GLOCK [handgun] as the global leader in the handgun industry” and said, “his life’s work will continue in his spirit.”

Inventor of Glock handgun dies aged 94 https://t.co/klkmUOH1O3

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) December 28, 2023

Before he invented the handgun that bore his name, Glock worked in a factory producing car radiators. He and his wife were also small business owners making basic home products such as curtain rods and door hinges. But after he heard two Army officers discussing a potential contract in 1980, he consulted industry experts and then went to work developing the now-popular weapon. It was a success, and sales rocketed.

The handguns still sell prolifically, and consumers can find them almost everywhere. Security forces in nearly 50 countries use Glocks as their weapon of choice, as do two-thirds of US law enforcement agencies. They are equally the subject of praise and controversy.

Glock, himself, was a bit of a recluse. There were only three times he was notably in the news, according to The New York Times. In 1999, he became the failed target of an assassination attempt after a business associate hired someone to kill him. Twelve years later, in 2011, he divorced his wife of nearly 50 years to marry a 31-year-old. The following year, he became the subject of a book. Otherwise, Glock, who had an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion in 2021, chose to live quietly on a lakefront estate.