Gunmaker Gaston Glock: Shell Companies, Nazis, and Murder
Is it beyond ironic when a gun company that's made its fortune marketing handguns to law enforcement finds itself and its one-time employees mired in a web of alleged criminal activity that includes money skimming, illegal campaign contributions, and even murder?
Well, yeah.
And the fact that the head of the company, Gaston Glock, used to pal around with a suspected Nazi sympathizer doesn't hurt.
The company is handgun manufacturer Glock. And the source for these alleged criminal acts is a lengthy new investigative piece (remember investigative journalism, that thing real reporters used to do before they were replaced by a wave of young, inexpensive scribblers who think Wikipedia is a legitimate reference source?) in the most recent edition of Business Week.
According to Business Week, "Allegations of corruption permeate Gaston Glock's empire." Alleged criminal acts (the bulk of which Glock denies or blames on past employees) reported by Business Week include:
- Creating a complicated series of shell companies to conceal the company's profits from U.S. tax authorities.
- Distributing company funds to Glock employees and their wives with the understanding that the money would be distributed to congressional candidates--an apparent violation of U.S. election law.
- A murder attempt on Gaston Glock's life found by the courts to have been engineered by his business partner Charles Ewert.
- Theft and embezzlement by Glock employees.
In addition to the criminal allegations, Business Week notes:
Glock's political and public relations activities in the U.S. sometimes have tended toward strangeness. Internal records show payments of thousands of dollars a month over several years to a gun industry lobbyist named Richard Feldman. In interviews, Feldman says that at Gaston Glock's request he spent some of the money in 1999 and 2000 to arrange U.S. appearances by Jorg Haider, then the leader of Austria's anti-immigrant, far-right Freedom Party. Glock has been described in Austria as a political supporter of Haider, although the arms maker has sued both an Austrian newspaper and a politician there for making that claim. The arrangements Feldman says he worked on included Haider's attendance at a January 2000 banquet in New York honoring the birthday of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The King dinner, sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality, received media coverage because Hillary Clinton criticized her then-rival for a New York Senate seat, Rudolph Giuliani, for attending the celebration [sic] Haider present.
Before he died in a car accident last year, Haider stirred controversy, according to media reports, for praising the "character" of elite Nazi SS troops and the "employment policy" of Adolph Hitler. "Glock urged me to help Haider overcome some of the [image] problems," says Feldman. The lobbyist says he thoroughly researched the situation to satisfy himself that neither Glock nor Haider ever supported the Nazi cause. "There were loose statements [by Haider] that were blown out of proportion," he says.
Is Gaston Glock just the victim of renegade employees and a poor choice in friends? That remains to be seen. According to Business Week, his "corporate web is now under scrutiny by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service...."
But the next time the gun lobby talks about the firearms industry in hyperbolic, glowing terms that equate it with freedom itself, just remember the name Gaston Glock.
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I suppose the moderator doesn't like this one? I'll try again. I DO like it?
Wow, Josh found that a major corporation has all the same problems that any other major corporation has. Call the New York Times, the BBC, Al-Jazeera (sp?). This is big news!
That said, what did his friend say about the SS troopers? That they loved their country? That they were superbly trained and motivated? That they fought like devils, and frequently won over very long odds? What criminal abuse of words!!! But, it is the truth, isn't it? Oh yeah, its also true that they were often the instrument of Hitler's despicable policies against civilians. But that doesn't take away from their qualities as fighting men. Having been one for most of my adult life, I believe that their soldierly virtues are to be emulated, while remembering not to emulate their political activities.
Semper fishe_b_287438.html
"Is it beyond ironic when a gun company that's made its fortune marketing handguns to law enforcement finds itself and its one-time employees mired in a web of alleged criminal activity that includes money skimming, illegal campaign contributions, and even murder?
Well, yeah."
Is it any less ironic that Josh Sugarmann has an Federal Firearms License?
Well, no.
Am I the only person who thinks the GLOCK logo looks like they're suggesting a word that starts with C instead of GL and ends with OCK? I pointed this phallic suggestion out to a co-worker of mine who would regularly wear a GLOCK hat, and I think he must have agreed, because he never wore the hat again.
Yep, you are the only person.
The only person who might share your interpretation would be Bryan Miller of Ceasefire NJ. He has a physician specializing in genitalia references who posts there frequently.
Remember folks. This "Operation Valkyrie" nonsense is what the Joyce Foundation is paying GOOD money for.
Sad.
I might be old-school, but I prefer a steel framed handgun to the polymer Glocks.
I'll be using my Tokarev in a couple of weeks for the handgun proficiency demonstration part of renewing my concealed handgun license.
The Tok is a very functional weapon - based on the 1911 design with really cheap ammo available so you can get plenty of practice time in - just be sure to clean the barrel well afterward because some of that Eastern Bloc ammo is corrosive. Nothing some hot soapy water won't take care of.
Still pretty cheap, too. Around $300 or so.
I dislike the Glocks for several reasons including the square slide profile, the susceptability to limp wristing, the lack of a decock function, the trigger shoe gimmick (I refuse to call that darn gizmo a safety), the ability to fire out of battery, and the problems with case head support leading to KaBOOM! failures.
Hmmm! You're one of the few LEO's I'm acquainted with who actively dislikes the Glock! My son (an LEO here in NC) carries the G-37 as his duty pistol, has carried a G-21 & a G-17 in the same capacity & generally loves the things, as do most of his buddies!
All that said, I'm in your camp! I'm especially leery of the unsupported case-head situation! Not a highly likely event, but if it does happen.... Me? I'm a CZ-75 sort of guy!
Old SF
I'll always be a 1911 guy! That said, we're armed with the H&K P2000. A fine shooting pistol, even with the LEO trigger, but an over-engineered mag release that departs from most pistol-makers' history, and flouts the US mindset.
Semper fi
I am curious; is it Mr. Sugarmann's belief that prospective handgun purchasers should choose a firearm manufactured by a company other than Glock? If so, then I strongly recommend Springfield Armory's XD series. I have found the XD series to feature a more comfortable grip, an easier means of breakdown and viable -- yet non-intrusive -- safety features beyond those featured upon Glock handguns all for slightly less expense than equivalent Glock models.
I'm betting Glock refused to sell any product to Sugarmann (him being one of two FFL holders in Washington DC) so now he's venting.
I agree, the XD is simply a wonderful gun. Another good glock alternative is the Smith and Wesson M&P.
Both good choices.
+1
The M&P and XD are both EXCELLENT!
Old SF
What is the point of this article?
The only point I could discern was (substantively): "Gaston Glock and the Glock Company are both involved with firearms, and they both also have some questionable dealings. Thus, people who are involved with firearms have questionable dealings."
This is an ad hominem argument. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem ("An ad hominem argument has the basic form: / Person A makes claim X / There is something objectionable about Person A / Therefore claim X is false ").
It should be noted that Mr. Sugarmann has openly acknowledged to relying upon dishonesty as a means of attaining support for his agenda.
While doing that, also note that none of these allegations come from Sugarmann; he's telling us what Business Week is reporting in this week's cover story.
Sugarmann's veracity is easily checked. Here:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_38/b4147036107809.htm
Is a link to Business Week. As you'll note, the things that he says this article contains are in fact present. Therefore, we know Sugarmann is telling the truth.
Connect them with Blackwater aka Xe and the CStreet Gang . That'll make me happy.
> And the fact that the head of the company,
> Gaston Glock, used to pal around with a
> suspected Nazi sympathizer doesn't hurt.
It doesn't bother Goopers. After all, Prescott Bush financed Hitler DURING WW2, yet him and his family are conservative royalty.
In fact, that just proves their street cred among conservative "values voters".
Politics and business dealings aside, you cannot deny that they make one of the best and well designed handguns around, which is why law enforcement carrying Glock pistols outnumber any other brand. I'd never own one though. Ruger, Colt, S&W for me.
Buy American!
Yeah, but both of my 10mm Glocks still work perfectly.
(So does my Mauser, but at least it was made in 1917, when Hitler was a corporal).
Don't forget Adolf was an Austrian--not German
I read that story. The one thing that jumped out at me was the that the hitman used a hammer to try to kill the head of a handgun empire.
It would have been funnier if the hitan had used a Glock.
wats a hitan???
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