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Me Unchained Toufreturns in Athens/
Hr H«« «f Mi JfiM, This American Ufe y fli4 AH«iN , i CinpiK,
Wednesday, February 8 at 7:30pm
atitaeMeltliHi Paint
The cast of the four will include Joan Juliet Buck, the novelist, actress [Julie & Julia), and esteemed
former editor of French Vogue; Me. Edgar Oliver, Savannah-born playwright and raconteuring
star of the Edinburgh Festival; Peter Aguero, a multi-talented artist currently hosting The Moth and
leading NYC's improvised storytelling rock band, The BTK Band; Elna Baker, famous Mormon,
comedian, author and contributor of This American Life; Tina Brown, an award-winning news
paper reporter, storyteller and author of Crooked Rood Straight: The Awakening of AIDS Activist
Linda Jordan; and Shovels & Rope, a Charleston based "sloppy took" band consisting of Michael
Trent and Cary Ann Hearst.
Get your ticket# at Avid Bookshop, at Hendershot's Coffee/Bar
or at the Melting Point's website: meltingpointathens.com
Story time is every Thursday at 10:30am
and every Saturday at 1:00pm
For information about upcoming events for kids
and adults, “like” us on Facebook!
ATHENSfGOMMMhfl^Y'FOCUSED,
INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE
New Hours for 2012:
TUesday-Saturclay f0am~6pm
Saturday 11am-6p«n • Closed Sundays
493 Prince Ave • Mhe.its, GA • 700*352-2060
avkLatttcns@gmaif.com
ins; Nig;
:Morton Th—=
4:00 p.m. Halt a Ton of Brostz
6:15 p.m.jj. Matchmaker, Onco
8:30. p.m, ?Sum>/ng Hitler; '§AM
Hotel Indigo-Risiti
Mm
■tor
6:1!
p§
r§ •
MY GUN IS QUICK
Guns. Not that you asked, but I've always
been of two minds on this particular subject
On the one hand, I'm a firm believer that
the Founding Fathers meant every word of
the Second Amendment, the part that reads:
"A well regulated militia being necessary to
the security of a free state," as well as the
part that reads: "The right of the people to
keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
That said, therefore, anyone who wants a gun
should have to enlist in the National Guard,
the only "well regulated militia" we have,
and be willing to put that gun to use defend
ing the security of the free state when called
up. Not only will this ensure that gun owners
are serious about it, but they'll also receive
some practical training in the use and misuse
of their weapons beyond the purely nominal
course currently required, and maybe the
Guard can weed out some of the folks who
have absolutely no business owning a conceal-
able death-machine.
On the other hand, I totally get the appeal
of the handgun to the limbic brain and sex
organs. My father
was a gun owner,
his preferred piece a
Smith & Wesson.357
Magnum, and I
grew up holding
and shooting guns.
They're damn sensu
ous in the hand,
and when you pull
the trigger and the
recoil sings up your
arms, it feels an
awful lot like love.
Whatever we may
argue about rights
and responsibilities,
on a purely vis
ceral level, a gun
is power you can
feel in your balls,
whether you have
balls or not and
that's why no one
will ever be able
to outlaw them.
Control them,
maybe—keep reach
ing for that rainbow, advocates—but get rid
of them? Never happen. There's just too much
psychology, too much history and too much
of our identity, as individuals and as a nation,
tied up in the romance of guns.
Because gun culture pervades every aspect
of life in the world, and especially in America,
any advancement in the mechanics of fire
arms, from the Minnie ball to the Colt revolver,
has widespread consequences. Therefore, when
an unassuming little inventor from Austria
announced in the early 1980s that he had
developed an entirely new handgun technology,
the news was nothing less than earth-shatter
ing. The man was Gaston Glock, and the pistol
that bears his name swiftly became the most
popular—and most controversial—piece of
weaponry in the world. The story of Glock, the
man and the gun, is the subject of journalist
Paul M. Barrett's remarkable new book Glock:
The Rise of America's Gun (Random House,
2012).
In a parallel to the story of another famous
gunsmith, Sam Colt, Gaston Glock was the
right man in the right place at the right time.
The owner of a small-town repair and tooling
shop, Glock was a contractor to the Austrian
army, making knives and sundries out of his
garage, who happened to be at headquarters
when the brass were discussing the need for a
new sidearm. Despite knowing nothing about
guns, Glock asked for a chance to present
something and was given permission with a
'shrug. That lack of knowledge proved to be
vital, as Glock immediately educated himself
on the mechanics of firearms and consulted
with experts in their use, working from scratch
to design a dream pistol. The result was
lighter (injected plastic housing and softer
trigger pull), more accurate (precise grip-
to-barrel angle), more reliable (fewer parts)
and cheaper to produce (computerized work
stations) than any handgun available any
where. The Glock 17 could be buried in sand,
submerged in water, dropped from a helicopter
and fired thousands of times without malfunc
tion, and its 17-cartridge clip made it an arse
nal unto itself.
Add to this harmonic convergence of cir
cumstance the perception among law-enforce
ment—precipitated largely because of a
disastrous FBI shoo
tout in Miami—that
the traditional
six-shot revolver
had become obso
lete in the fight
against bad guys
armed with assault
weapons, and sud
denly the prospect
of a 9-mm "super
gun," even one from
Nowhere, Austria,
became very attrac
tive. Not for every
one, however. While
the military and the
police were taking
a look at the new
gun, its plastic con
struction and easy
assembly gave rise
to fears of a ter
rorist weapon that
could bypass airport
metal detectors, a
reputation made
worse by rumors
that Libya, then considered a terrorist state,
was looking closely at the Glock as well.
In economic but fascinating prose, Barrett
traces the path of the Glock through its'
vetting by authorities, its growing infamy
through movies, TV and hip-hop lyrics ("Glock"
Thymes with so many words) and its fierce
competition in and dominance of the handgun
mafket. Along the way, he gives us an inside
look at the politics of guns in America, the
workings of the NRA and the trends that move
and shake the gun markets, and the fortunes
of Gaston Glock and his company as they
established themselves in suburban Smyrna,
GA as local and international powerhouses.
There's money and corruption and crime and
more than a little sex—once again, the Gold
Club lives on past its demise—all the ingredi
ents of the classic American success story.
Ultimately, Glock is a book about two
integral parts ofLAmerica's core, its guns and
its business, and, therefore, it's a book about
America itself, one that should be read no
matter on which side of the gun issue you
happen to reside.
John G. Nettles
12 FLAGPOLE.COM • FEBRUARY l, 2012