BOOK REVIEW: GLOCK, The Rise of America's Gun...

GLOCK, The Rise of America's Gun, by Paul M. Barrett, Crown Publishers, New York, (c) 2012.

This work has been heavily reviewed by a number of 'gun' bloggers and I ordered a copy online more or less out of curiosity.  I really wish I hadn't because I truly don't think it was worth the effort.  I have a number of problems with the author, his opinions and this work in general.

First let's deal with what I think is GOOD about this book.  I feel Barrett's work in explaining and detailing the assassination attempt on Gaston Glock in Luxembourg in July, 1999 was very well done.  He explains in detail how Glock's associate Charles Ewert planned the attempted murder by a former French Foreign Legionnaire, Jacques Pecheur, because Glock was suspicious or had learned that Ewert was stealing vast sums of money from him.  None of this information was forthcoming in this country prior to Barrett's work and for that he should be applauded.

He also details, although not as extensively, the swindling of Glock's fortune by his former corporate counsel, Paul Jannuzzo and others.  There is a pattern established in telling this story that Glock's business partners have a habit of stealing from him.  That's because there is so much money being made by Glock and is freely available to be stolen.  The profits are tremendous, but then I've been aware of that aspect of this pistol for more than 2 decades.

In the early 1990's a magazine editor I worked for in Europe discovered through internal Glock documents he received that at that time the total cost to manufacture a Glock 17 was less than $110.  This at the same time they were listing a MSRP of over $600 in the states with a 'wholesale' price of just over $400!

That Barrett also lists Gaston's pursuit of 'bargains' to the point of shipping cheap bed mattresses back to Austria and purchasing his bathroom fixtures from Home Depot in Atlanta for an expensive lakeside villa in Austria is the kind of gossip and dirty linen that appeals to most all of our prurient interests, but it does little to illuminate the world of firearms or specific questions about Glock pistols.

My criticisms of this work fall along the following lines:

1)  Although Barrett openly expresses his contempt for normal capacity magazines (those holding more than 10 rounds) and the 'need' for semi-auto sporting rifles, aka "assault rifles", and he argues at various points in the books against these things, he never once mentions the fact that California after requiring registration of these same firearms, then turned around and confiscated all of them that were registered by their law abiding owners.  People who had committed no greater wrong than simply wanting to enjoy owning and operating these firearms in a legal manner.

Of course, all anti-gunners want to ignore the fact that registration of firearms is the final step before confiscation, don't they?

2)  During his discussion of the 1994 Crime Bill that banned for ten years normal capacity magazines (those holding more than 10 rounds) in this work he never once mentions the 'sell-out' by Bill Ruger that actually precipitated the whole fiasco.  Ruger wrote a letter to Howard Metzenbaum detailing how ammunition feeding devices should be limited to only 10 rounds.  Metzenbaum was all ready to compromise with the NRA on a 20 round limitation, that is until he received Bill Ruger's personal letter, which was a desperate appeal to save Ruger's beloved Mini-14 rifle.  How do I know this?  Because Sherry Collins, who Barrett mentions repeatedly in this work, gave me a copy of the letter which she had secured from a covert source.  (I've long since lost or thrown it away, so don't ask.  Gary Paul Johnston also had a copy of this same letter at one time.)  Not including this important information in this discussion gives one a slanted view of things in terms of the ban on magazines and Glock's resultant success.  A lot of people were aware of this betrayal and it was a PR nightmare for many besides Bill Ruger.  This important history should have been included because it is a key part of the events that took place before that law went into effect.

3)  He never mentions the debacle with the Indiana State Police and the Glock Model 22.  It is a screw-up so bad that neither side wants to talk about it yet today so the specific details are well hidden.  When the Indiana State Police transitioned from the Beretta 92G in 9x19mm they first went to the Glock 22 in .40.  Something went wrong with the guns almost immediately.  The details of which have NEVER been truly explained or detailed, but the bottom line was "Glock Perfection" WASN'T!  In order to cover their embarrassment as well as the deal with Glock, the ISP adopted instead the Glock 17.  Very little information has been forth coming about the details of this deal from either side, even to other Hoosier law enforcement agencies.  Clearly, this was not Glock's best moment in law enforcement, but both Glock and the ISP would have everyone believe there was never a problem when obviously something went wrong.  If Barrett is so good as an investigative journalist  as everyone says he is, he should have mentioned this problem in Glock's sales to law enforcement.

A number of individuals are mentioned in this work that I have known and worked with over several years.  Some of them I respect and others at one time I considered 'friends' only to learn they deserved neither my respect, nor my friendship.

In my opinion, neither does this book deserve your time or money...

All The Best,
Frank W. James