The title refers to a book called Glock The Rise of America’s Gun by Paul M Barret, Crown Publishing, NY, 2012. While the book discusses guns and America, part of the book focuses on the companies that make guns. The author has fired a gun before but does not own one and generally does not focus on the handgun issue, however there is a sizable population in the US and elsewhere that does and law enforcement carry guns. You maybe similar to me and not terribly concerned with the type of guns they carry, however law enforcement is government contracts and they buy guns and pay their bills. The industry was dominated by Smith & Wesson, Beretta, Colt and others for a decades. The industry had not changed, the quality of the guns was declining, and Gaston Glock thought he could and did invent a better gun at a lower cost. It was lighter, more accurate, had fewer parts, and what was wanted by the law enforcement industry. Not surprisingly, people bought the better gun.

The book outlines methods which were used to reach out to the public and law enforcement to gain contracts. Also, the denial of the competition plays a key role because one of the components of the Glock gun is plastic. The competition did not believe or could not believe gun buyers would want a Glock. However, in repeated comparison tests the Glock was the better gun for reliability, accuracy and safety. Some of the methods used included (education) training facilities or sending a trainer to the bulk purchasers, direct advertising to distributors, product placement in the media, taking advantage of reports in the media – which spurred sales.

One of the reasons why people tend to avoid the gun companies is even though they can be very profitable, eventually someone does not injured which results in lawsuits and government regulations. One interesting story is Congress passed a law picking a date with pre the date nothing has to be done; after the date, new regulations apply. One method to get around the law was to offer free new guns to any agency which had bought pre. In that fashion, the agency receives the new guns and the old ones can be sold at higher prices to the public. Gun manufacturers thrive on turmoil, when the general public gets scared it buys guns to protect themselves. The industry remains very profitable.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, there are ads on TV which show large screens looking for tooth decay, one would think this type of attention to detail would be in all industries, it is important to see if it actually does. Glock came along and invented a better mousetrap while the competition could not or would not believe the public would buy anything but what they gave them. The public can change quickly and it can decades to bring them back. If you believe the companies you own are getting complacent, shake them up or sell the shares because change comes quickly and last for a long time.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions