There is an interesting interview with Paul Barrett, author of Glock: The Rise of America’s Gun, published here. What I find most interesting about it is the way gun owners as a group are characterized. At several moments in time, private ownership of Glock pistols increased significantly for reasons that one would normally find explaining the behavior of toddlers, or dogs, or monkeys in an experimental setting, not sentient adult humans. For instance, the cops start using Glocks, and gun owners automatically want to use what the cops use. Or, a made up fictional Glock (the Glock 7) is described in a Lethal Weapon movie, where everything about it is wrong (remember, it’s fictional) and this enrages gun owners who run out and buy Glocks. And so on and so forth.

Now, one of the things that seems to rive Glock sales is the fact that they have been used in an increasingly larger number of tragic and horrific massacres on American soil. Somehow, the association with angry carnage and hateful violence makes American gun owners want one.

Glocks hold more ammo than other pistols, can be fitted with super-large ammo holders, and have a trigger that is very smooth making it easier for untalented amateurs to be better shots. Glocks should be banned.