Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun (38 page)

As noted in the text, I drew heavily from the October 1984
Soldier of Fortune
piece by Kokalis, “Plastic Perfection.” I also relied on Sweeney’s
Gun Digest Book of the Glock
, especially pp. 78–83, and on Wills’s
Illustrated History of Weaponry
, p. 153.

The plastic-pistol controversy was ignited by syndicated columns by Jack Anderson and Dale Van Atta, including “Qaddafi Buying Austrian Plastic Pistols,”
Washington Post
, January 15, 1986; “Lawmaker Seeks to Ban Plastic Pistols,”
Washington Post
, March 14, 1986; and “Concern Growing Over Plastic Pistol,”
Washington Post
, April 18, 1986. Other important coverage of the affair included editorials such as “Hijacker’s Special?,”
New York Times
, February 9, 1986, and “Pass Laws to Ban Plastic Handguns,”
USA Today
, February 27, 1986. I also relied on the following articles: Josh Sugarmann, “Progress Gives Us Great New Handgun: Hijacker Special,”
Los Angeles Times
, March 24, 1986; Gayle White, “Partly Plastic Gun Comes Under Fire: Critics Say Pistol Would Help Terrorists Evade Metal Detectors,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, May 1, 1986; Robert J. Mrazek, “The Deadly Truth About Plastic Guns,”
Washington Post
, May 15, 1986; “Lincoln Mayor Sponsors Resolution: Call for Ban on Plastic Guns Triggers Response by NRA,” Associated Press, June 17, 1986; and Wayne King and Warren Weaver Jr., “Washington Talk: Gun-Control Struggle,”
New York Times
, December 7, 1986.

Helpful coverage of American police departments’ adoption of the Glock includes: “Miami Police Get New Firepower,” United Press International, July 19, 1987; Kevin Diaz, “Faster Pistol for Police Is Gaining Acceptance: Semiautomatics Replace Revolver,”
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
, September 7, 1987; Gerald Volgenau, “Police Being Outgunned by Lawbreakers,” Knight Ridder, July 3, 1988; Veronica Jennings, “Union Chief Seeks New Police Guns; More Firepower Needed, Officer Says,”
Washington Post
, September 15, 1988; “Top Cop Wards Off Ban on Super Gun,”
New York Post
, September 29, 1988; “Police Lift Ban on Gun Ward Carries, a Glock,”
New York Times
, September 30, 1988; Karla Jennings, “New Gun ‘Ugly,’ But Effective, Police Say,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, October 13, 1988; Mitch Gelman, “Automatic Guns for NY Narcs,”
Newsday
, November 28, 1988; Andrew H. Malcolm, “Many Police Forces Rearm to Counter Criminals’ Guns,”
New York Times
, September 4, 1990; James C. McKinley Jr., “Subway Police to Get New Pistols,”
New York Times
, December 21, 1990; and William Bratton, “Don’t Knock the Glock,”
Newsday
, September 25, 1991. The killing of NYPD Officer Scott Gadell was described by Robert D. McFadden in “Wide Hunt for Killer of Officer,”
New York Times
, June 30, 1986, and “Memory of a Fallen Officer,”
New York Times
, May 31, 1992. For background on Samuel Colt, see, e.g., William Hosley, “Gun, Gun Culture, and the Peddling of Dreams,” in Dizard, Muth, and Andrews, eds.,
Guns in America: A Reader
, pp. 47–85, and Wills’s
The Illustrated History of Weaponry
, pp. 130–133.

As noted in the text, Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce provide colorful background about Glock and the hip-hop world in
Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent
. Dean Speir’s website, The Gun Zone (
thegunzone.com
), has a useful section on Glock.

For this chapter I again relied on Allen’s April 19, 1989,
Washington Post
essay “The Mystique of Guns: From Daniel Boone to Dirty Harry,” as well as historian Richard Hofstadter’s “America as a Gun Culture,”
American Heritage
21, no. 6 (1970), and “Reflections on Violence in the United States,” in Hofstadter and Michael Wallace, eds.,
American Violence: A Documentary History
(New York: Knopf, 1970). The Billy Bathgate passage is, of course, from E. L. Doctorow’s 1989 novel
Billy Bathgate
(New York: Random House).

On the decline of the American gun industry in the 1980s, see Resa W. King, “US Gunmakers: The Casualties Pile Up—Depressed Sales, Costly Insurance, and Foreign Competition Keep Claiming Victims,”
Business Week
, May 19, 1986; Kirk Johnson, “Gun Valley Tries to Adapt to the Winds of Change,”
New York Times
, March 21, 1989; and Henry Allen, “Uncle Sam Can’t Shoot Straight: Our Crooks Use Uzis, Our Cops Glocks—Even the Ammo’s Imported,”
Washington Post
, March 25, 1990. For my discussion of Smith & Wesson, I relied on “Appointments: Smith & Wesson Corp.,”
Financial Times
, December 10, 1987; Robert W. Hunnicutt, “SHOT Show 1990,”
American Rifleman
, March, 1990; Charles E. Petty, “Smith & Wesson: In-Store Promotions,”
Shooting Industry
, May 1, 1991; Greg Cox, “A Call to Arms: Facing Tough Competition, Smith & Wesson’s New CEO Presses Ahead with Sweeping Changes,”
Business Week
, November 1, 1992; and William Freebairn, “Smith & Wesson at 150: Springfield Gunmaker Defined by Controversy, Innovation,”
Springfield Union-News
, August 4, 2002. For this chapter I again referred to Dyan Machan’s March 31, 2003,
Forbes
interview, “Top Gun,” and to Wills’s
Illustrated History of Weaponry
, pp. 134–137.

I relied on a number of accounts of the Killeen massacre and the tracing of Hennard’s Glock, including Kathy Jackson, “Gunman’s 9mm Pistol Is Type Often Used by Police: Weapon’s Accuracy Credited for Its Popularity,”
Dallas Morning News
, October 17, 1991; Tara Parker Pope, “Massacre in Killeen: Nevada County’s Tough Gun Laws Failed to Stop Killer,”
Houston Chronicle
, October 19, 1991; Nick Ravo, “Gun Used in Slayings Has Lethal Reputation,”
New York Times
, October 17, 1991; Linda Rehkopf, “Gun Came from Smyrna: Mother Likely Bought It,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, October 18, 1991; and Allan Turner, “Bloodbath in Killeen: ‘Ugly’ Gun Can Fire 16–20 Shots,”
Houston Chronicle
, October 17, 1991. For background on the assault weapons debate in Congress, I read Holly Idelson, “House Members Duel on Crime: Assault-Gun Ban Is Rejected,”
Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report
, October 19, 1991, and Matt Yancy, “House Rejects Ban on Assault Rifles, Large Clips,” Associated
Press, October 17, 1991. Also of use in writing this chapter were “Of What Legal and Practical Use Is a Glock 9mm Semiautomatic Pistol?”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, October 18, 1991; “Gun Ownership Has New Champion: Killeen Massacre Survivor,”
Shooting Industry
, June 1, 1992; Mark McDonald, “Under the Gun: As Crime Comes Closer and Closer, More and More City Dwellers Consider Owning and Learning to Use Firearms,”
Dallas Morning News
, December 12, 1991; and “Top 18 Handguns Used by Criminals,”
USA Today
, June 3, 1992.

To describe the unintended consequences of gun control, I relied on, among other sources: “Brady Bill Triggers Local Run on Guns,” Associated Press, December 20, 1993; Michael Arena, “Packing Heat in a Hurry,”
Newsday
, December 20, 1993; Robert Davis, “Gun Ban Triggers Sales Rush: President ‘Finest Gun Salesman in History,’ ”
USA Today
, May 10, 1994; Jeannette Regalado and Tina Daunt, “Possible Ban Ignites Rush on Area Gun Shops,”
Los Angeles Times
, May 12, 1994; Scott Shane, “Curbs on Guns Are Growing, But So Are Sales,”
Baltimore Sun
, May 15, 1994; and Bob von Sternberg, “NRA,”
Minneapolis Star-Tribune
, May 25, 1994.

Reports about early problems with accidental discharges include: Gilbert Jimenez, “Police Chief Red Faced After Gun Discharges,”
Chicago Sun-Times
, December 20, 1989; Kathleen Ovack, “Gun’s ‘Hair Trigger’ Under Fire,”
St. Petersburg Times
, February 19, 1990; Dan Huff, “Accidents Happen, But All Too Often with the Glock 19,”
Arizona Daily Star
, November 20, 1990; and “Glock Pistol Under Fire in S.C.: Is It Simple and Safe or a Dangerous Hair-Trigger,” Associated Press, December 13, 1994. Washington’s transition to the Glock is described in Rene Sanchez, “D.C. Officers Get 9mm Pistols for ‘Parity with Drug Dealers,’ ”
Washington Post
, March 4, 1989; Elsa Walsh, “D.C. Police Pistol Gets Poor Safety Marks,”
Washington Post
, April 8, 1989; Jeff Leen, Jo Craven, David Jackson, and Sari Horwitz, “D.C. Police Lead Nation in Shootings: Lack of Training, Supervision Implicated as Key Factors,”
Washington Post
, November 15, 1998; and Jeff Leen and Sari Horwitz, “Armed and Unready: City Pays for Failure to Train Officers with Sophisticated Weapon,”
Washington Post
, November 18, 1998. To describe the Grant suit in Knoxville, I relied on daily coverage by the
Knoxville News Sentinel
, June 13 through June 21, 1994. Massad Ayoob discussed the Glock in “The Glock Pistol: Perspective from the Field” and “Glock’s Perfection Questioned on the Street: Enter the New York Trigger,”
GUNS
, September 1990.

Among the articles I relied on to write about the advent of Pocket Rockets were Bill Torpy, “Laws Trigger Newfound Market for Small Guns: Easy to Conceal, They’re Being Toted by More Women,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, December 16, 1995; “Glock’s New Pocket Rockets!”
Guns & Ammo
, January 1996; Massad Ayoob, “Building a Big Market with Small Handguns,”
Shooting Industry
, January 1996, and “Presentation Guns Make Ideal Gifts While Increasing
Sales,”
Shooting Industry
, February 1996; and Alix M. Freedman, “Tinier, Deadlier Pocket Pistols Are in Vogue,”
Wall Street Journal
, September 12, 1996. For this chapter, I also found useful Massad Ayoob, “ ‘Trend Crimes’ and the Gun Dealer,”
Shooting Industry
, March 1993; “Headache Cure #2000,”
Shooting Sports Retailer
, January 1997; and Tom Diaz,
Making a Killing: The Business of Guns in America
, pp. 69–92.

For this chapter, I drew some material from Dyan Machan’s interview, “Top Gun,”
Forbes
, March 31, 2003.

The Marion Hammer anecdote comes from David Olinger, Tim Nickens, and Kati Kairies, “Gun-Control Opponents Have Their Hopes Up for This Year,”
St. Petersburg Times
, March 12, 1989. For this chapter I also immersed myself in two gun-buff websites: Glock Talk (
glocktalk.com
) and The Gun Zone (
thegunzone.com
).

Two first-person accounts of municipal gun politics and litigation were highly valuable for this chapter: Peter Harry Brown and Daniel G. Abel,
Outgunned: Up Against the NRA
, especially pp. 7–67 and 171–234, and Richard Feldman,
Ricochet: Confessions of a Gun Lobbyist
, especially pp. 232–256. Other helpful sources include “Gun Makers Visit Clinton to Announce Safety Locks,” Knight-Ridder, October 10, 1997; Curtis Howell, “Hot as a Pistol: Increasingly Prominent Gun Trade Group Wins Praise for Conciliatory Attitude Behind Safety-Lock Agreement,”
Dallas Morning News
, October 25 1997; Terrence Hunt, “Gun Makers Agree to Provide Childproof Locks on Handguns,” Associated Press, October 10, 1997; Jim Schneider, “Clinton Applauds Gun Makers at Historical Ceremony,”
Shooting Industry
, December 1, 1997; Paul M. Barrett, “Courting Trouble? As Lawsuits Loom, Gun Industry Presents a Fragmented Front—Widening Legal Threat Finds Makers, Sellers Are Split on Issues and Tactics,”
Wall Street Journal
, December 9, 1998; Roberto Suro, “Cities Plan Legal Assault on Makers of Handguns: Tobacco Lawsuits Viewed as Models,”
Washington Post
, December 23, 1998; Fox Butterfield, “Results in Tobacco Litigation Spur Cities to File Gun Suits,”
New York Times
, December 24, 1998; Alan Sayre, “Watchdog Group: Guns Swap Could Leave City Open for Lawsuit,” Associated Press, January 29, 1999; Will Anderson, “Gun Maker Takes Aim at Cities’ Lawsuits; Smyrna Glock Plant Chief Sees No Ties Between Anti-Smoking Lawsuits and Challenges Against Arms Industry Manufacturers,”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
, February 14, 1999; Paul M. Barrett, “Gun Interests, Philadelphia Mayor to Talk Today,”
Wall Street Journal
, June 9, 1999; Paul M. Barrett and Jeffrey Taylor, “Focus of Gun-Control Fight Shifts to Cities, States,”
Wall Street Journal
, July 8, 1999; Vanessa O’Connell and Paul M. Barrett, “Ricochet: Cities Suing Gun Firms Have a Weak Spot: They’re Suppliers, Too—Police Trade-ins Cut Costs, but Many of the Weapons Land in the Wrong Hands,”
Wall Street Journal
, August 16, 1999; Matt Bai, “Clouds Over Gun Valley,”
Newsweek
, August 23, 1999; Paul M. Barrett and Vanessa O’Connell, “White House and Gun
Industry May Discover Some Talking Points to Reach Deal on Lawsuit,”
Wall Street Journal
, December 13, 1999; Brigitte Greenberg, “Some NRA Allies Renounce Comments from Group’s Leaders,” Associated Press, March 21, 2000; “Glock Rejects Gun-Control Agreement,” Associated Press, March 22, 2000; Russ Thurmon, “Smith & Wesson Agreement Draws Fire,”
Shooting Industry
, May 1, 2000; Matt Bai, “A Gun Maker’s Agony: Inside Smith & Wesson’s Fight to Survive the Crossfire,”
Newsweek
, May 22, 2000; Rinker Buck, “Agreement Backfires on Smith & Wesson,”
Hartford Courant
, June 14, 2000; Gary Fields, “For Smith & Wesson, Blanks Instead of a Magic Bullet—Nation’s No. 1 Gun Maker Signed a Deal to Promote Safety, but Is Still a Legal Target,”
Wall Street Journal
, August 24, 2000; and Matt Bai, “A Gun Deal’s Fatal Wound: As a Landmark Pact to Control Guns Falls Apart, Smith & Wesson Takes the Hit,”
Newsweek
, February 5, 2001.