AKA Gaston Glock, Sr.

Born: 19-Jul-1929 [1]
Birthplace: Vienna, Austria

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Business, Engineer

Nationality: Austria
Executive summary: Gunmaker

Austrian engineer Gaston Glock is the founder of Glock GmbH, and designer of the "safe-action" auto-loading lightweight pistol that bears his name. His company, founded in 1963, manufactured primarily doorknobs, hinges, and other hardware supplies until 1980, when he heard that the Austrian military was looking for an improved handgun. According to legend, he designed the first Glock in his basement, and tested early prototypes by firing with his left hand, so that if the gun exploded (it never did) he could draw revised blueprints with his right hand. Glock's first pistol was introduced in 1980, made standard-issue for the Austrian Armed Forces in 1982, and was quickly adopted by numerous other European militaries. In 1985 it was approved for import to the United States, and by the mid-1990s it was the most popular gun among US police departments and Special Forces.

The company's founder is notoriously withdrawn and rarely consents to media interviews, but he is known to have counted the right-wing extremist Jörg Haider and the late Pope John Paul II among his friends. On 27 July 1999, Glock was attacked and bludgeoned in a garage by former mercenary Jacques Pêcheur, while Glock's right-hand man Charles Ewert fled the scene. To the surprise of perhaps all three men, Glock (then 70 years of age) fought off his masked assailant, and Ewert was soon implicated in the embezzlement of millions of dollars from the firm and the hiring of the hit-man Pêcheur. Both conspirators were found guilty of attempted murder and imprisoned.

    Glock GmbH Founder & President (1963-)
    Austrian Ancestry

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