Gaston Glock Dead At 94 – Law Officer

Gaston Glock, the man responsible for developing the Glock handgun, died on Wednesday at the age of 94.

Glock developed the famous handgun in the 1980s, when the Austrian military was looking for a new, innovative weapon. Until then, the Glock company had made military knives and consumer goods including curtain rods.

Glock assembled a team of firearms experts and came up with the Glock 17, a lightweight semi-automatic gun largely made of plastic. The revolutionary design – with a frame made of a high-strength, nylon-based polymer and only the slide made of metal – beat several other companies’ blueprints and secured his upstart outfit the contract.

The easily assembled weapon became a global hit, with the Austrian winning loyal followings among police and military across the world.

Fox News reports that Glock himself was reclusive, rarely granting interviews, and shunned public debate.