When the moment comes that your life may be at stake, you want to make sure that you have the right tools to survive. First and foremost, you must have a survival mindset. Second, and no less important, is having a firearm that will deliver when it counts. For those in the know, that is a GLOCK. It is the ultimate tool for self-defense because it is simple, reliable and powerful. For years, civilians, military personnel and law enforcement officers have been writing to tell GLOCK about dangerous situations in which their GLOCKs made the difference between safety and tragedy. And others write to simply tell how much they love having their GLOCK, and how important it has become.
We are pleased to publish several of these “GLOCKimonials,” bringing to light real-life accounts of GLOCK autopistols saving and changing people’s lives. The stories told range from accounts of GLOCKs standing between the owner and a deadly threat at a boat loading area to a disabled gun owner selecting one for self-defense to an LEO learning that his new GLOCK will be a capable and trustworthy partner.
Readers, prepare yourselves for stories of GLOCKs in action, told, in their own words, by the people who used them.
Editor’s Note: These accounts were supplied by GLOCK as received from GLOCK I.D. members. Their personal information is being withheld, and we would like to thank them for their submissions.
Armed & Able
My story is not that amazing. I am a middle-aged woman. All my life I felt like I could handle whatever came my way. Then I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). My MS made me feel vulnerable, and for the first time in my life I thought twice about what I was doing, where I was going and if I could defend myself. As my MS has progressed, I have had to accept that I am physically unable to defend myself most days. I just don’t have the strength.
My husband got me interested in shooting a little over a year ago, and he bought me a rifle. That works fine for home defense and target shooting, but that’s about it. So we decided to get me a handgun. I went looking for a gun and purposely searched on my bad days. I figured if I could handle it then, I could handle it anytime. So we ended up purchasing a .38 Special revolver for me because I could shoot it if I manually cocked it. However,
I soon discovered that it caused me a lot of pain in my wrist because of the kick.
RELATED STORY: Gun Review – Glock 40 Gen4 in MOS Configuration
I had recently joined a woman’s shooting group, The Well Armed Woman (TWAW), and through that membership I could get a GLOCK at a good price. I tried a lot of other pistols, but the majority of them were either very difficult or impossible for me to rack on a bad day. So I finally tried the GLOCK. Wow! What a difference.
I purchased a GLOCK 19 Gen4. Its slide was as smooth as butter for me. I had no trouble racking it, even on a bad day. From day one with the GLOCK, I was more accurate and had better groupings. It also has a lot less recoil. I love my GLOCK. It is the one I carry when I am in places where I am allowed to carry. I would not trade my GLOCK for anything! I have now purchased a GLOCK 42 that is easier for me to conceal. Thank you, GLOCK, for a wonderful handgun that even someone with limited strength can use! —JP
Fisherman’s Best Friend
I fish in a small lake without public boat ramps. We launch our boats off of an old roadbed with broken pavement. About five years ago, I was backing my boat down the road and saw four young men, between 18 and 20 years old, in sleeping bags on the left side of the road. The water is deeper on the right side, so I kept backing to the right, launched my boat, tied it off and parked my truck.
I grabbed my GLOCK 26 as I got out of my truck and started walking toward my boat when I saw two of them with hoodies pulled over their heads approaching me about 15 feet away. I pulled my GLOCK and held it by my side so that they could see that it was a gun. The two guys instantly turned 90 degrees and walked away—none of us said a word. I think those guys had intended to rob or hurt me and I wasn’t going down without a fight. I tell people about this and explain that I truly believe my GLOCK saved my life. —MH
Maximum Security
I’d like to thank GLOCK for offering discounts to security guards and other law enforcement personnel. I have been working in security for over a decade, and I love it. But we don’t get paid very much. Worse yet, most companies now will have you purchase your own weapon. When your pay is slightly above minimum wage, buying a gun is a huge ordeal. Most guys end up buying cheap handguns.
RELATED STORY: The Evolution of GLOCK Pistols
Because I work in a lot of high-crime, high-risk areas, I didn’t want to trust my life to a cheap gun. Luckily, GLOCK offers the Blue Label program for security personnel. So, I bought my GLOCK 19 duty weapon and then a GLOCK 26 as a backup. These days, I prefer the new GLOCK 41 at my side. During my shift, I have to deal with a lot of stress and have had a few close calls. The one thing I know I can rely on is my GLOCK. Thanks for offering help to those of us on a budget, GLOCK! And thank you for showing respect to a field that most don’t always have a high opinion of. —BW
Wish Upon A GLOCK
A year or so ago, I took a women’s shooting course just to reiterate the fundamentals of safety. I love to shoot all types of guns. I took my husband’s 9mm in that evening to the NRA course. My instructor asked if she could shoot my husband’s 9mm, then offered me her GLOCK 17 to try. I went home so excited that the following day I asked my husband for a GLOCK for Christmas. I unwrapped a beautiful GLOCK 19 Gen4 that morning, and last week he brought me the G43 and purchased himself a G34. Now we are a GLOCK family with our favorite firearms. —VS
Swamp Proof
When I came back home from being overseas in the military, the first thing I did was get a new tattoo and buy a GLOCK 17. That pistol went with me everywhere, especially while I was a search-and-rescue K9 handler.
RELATED STORY: Stealth Nine – The Single-Stack GLOCK 43 Pistol
I remember one particular time my partner and I were trudging through a Georgia swamp looking for a person. I was hip deep in water yet still confident in my weapon. The next morning I went to go clean it and decided I would test-fire it even with all the mud now dry inside the weapon. Eighteen rounds went off without a hiccup. Unbelievable. Of course, my addiction soon spiraled out of control. Now I own nine GLOCKs. I have a GLOCK for every manner of dress and occasion. —EM
A Yankee’s 180
Growing up in an urban city such as New York, carrying a gun was frowned upon by everyday law-abiding citizens. Guns were always seemingly crime and gang related, which frankly scared me into believing they were unsafe to carry.
But moving to the South allowed me to experience guns in a new fashion. With an open mind, I carefully observed proper disassembly and safety etiquette, which helped me learn to trust myself with a weapon. I found confidence in the three safety mechanisms built into every GLOCK pistol, which in turn made my views on guns do a complete 180. Not only can I trust in myself with a firearm, but I know I can trust a manufacturer whose products always put safety in your control. —AP
GLOCK Heritage
I was born to a detective lieutenant dad, a capital city cop in one of the most densely populated states in the union. I fired my first shots at the age of six and shortly thereafter was introduced to “GLOCK Perfection” for the first time.
Like other police departments and agencies around the U.S. in the 1980s, my father’s department was in the process of searching for its next service weapon, making the switch to semi-automatics and upgrading from .38 Special revolvers. The chief tasked my dad to head up the search, and he and his team dutifully researched, handled and fired a variety of the popular and not-so-popular pistols in consideration. During an update briefing for the chief, my dad explained that his favorite so far was the new and extremely different polymer-framed GLOCK pistol from Austria. Someone agreed and spoke a famous adage regarding the field-stripping process: “It’s so easy a kid could do it blindfolded!”
The chief quickly told the officer he’d see about that, and told my father to take one home and see if I could do it. Sure enough, my father came home after work with a large case and a huge smile. After dinner we sat at the kitchen table, a city cop/homicide investigator and his eight-year-old son, and he taught me the disassembly and reassembly processes of the most amazing thing I had ever seen or touched in my life up to that point in time.
RELATED STORY: 9 Reliable GLOCK Pistols Chambered in 9mm
After about a half-hour, I was positive I’d be the first eight-year-old in Delta Force. So, my father decided to finish the experiment by handing me the tie he took off before dinner. Using it as a blindfold, I was successful in reassembling the GLOCK pistol by feel, and while he was laughing, I knew I was about the proudest kid in the world.
I can’t say I know what he reported the next morning, but soon enough he told me that the city was going to 9mm GLOCKs as its new service weapons. Trips to the range are much more fun when you can swap magazines faster than you can even open the cylinder of a revolver. After just a few short years, his department agreed to upgrade to the then-new and extremely well regarded .40 caliber, and the law enforcement officers received the brand-new GLOCK 23 (Gen2 pistols, some of the first to be issued in-country I have been told).
My dad was able to buy his former duty GLOCK 19, and he carried it as a backup on the streets as a captain and patrol commander, and as a civilian in retirement. Someday it will be mine, but hopefully not for a long, long time. What is mine is the GLOCK 23 I bought as my first self-purchased firearm, and I have trusted this pistol to help keep me and my family safe ever since. My family will always be a GLOCK family. On the job, in the house, out in the world, in competition or concealed carry, “GLOCK Perfection” isn’t just a slogan, it’s a family tradition. —DM
