No question: Emily Miller was the belle of the Conference ballroom. The Washington Times scribe’s speech—detailing her transition from gun ignorant to America’s number one firearms newbie—was humble, funny, passionate, informative, inspirational and educational. Emily’s hands may be smaller than Barbie’s but she had an entire room eating out of them right from the git-go.  She told the throng that the police down at the DC Bureau of You’ll Never Jump Through All These Hoops and Get A Gun But Here We Are Anyway were not helpful—except that they told her to get a Glock. “‘Cause cops love Glocks,” Emily said, triggering a wave of hearty, sympathetic laugher. She kept going . . .

“They’re ugly,” she said. “I wanted a two-tone gun ’cause I like the look of the steel and most of the time you just have it next to you and look at it and I like pretty things and I’m a girl,” or something like that. (I’ll get the tape.)

The laughter wasn’t quite so enthusiastic after that one. And there it was again, “Glocks are ugly. They really are.”

Readers of her series know that Emily ended up with a two-tone SIG P229. Which she still can’t carry on  the streets of DC and really should either be in a safe or on her hip in her home. Emily doesn’t home carry.

Ms. Miller hates Glocks. It’s a simple personal preference. Good for her and God bless America for giving her, and all of us, freedom of choice. All Americans are free to hate or not hate Glocks as they see fit. More importantly, All Americans should be free to buy and carry, or not buy and carry, Glocks as they see fit.

That said, Glocks save lives. Even if DC’s fascist poo-bahs suddenly decreed that residents were “free” to carry a Glock—and nothing else—it would be a huge step forward for a city where criminals prey on the weak and defenseless, as criminals are wont to do.

I repeat: there’s nothing wrong with playing the dozens with The People of the Gun, showing them that you’re in with the in-crowd. But Emily’s crusade is about restoring DC residents’ Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. Miller should be celebrating Glocks even as she’s dissing them.

It’s a small point made by a writer without a tenth of Emily Miller’s personal charisma or persuasive power. A writer who owns several Glocks (and other brands) and uses one to defend his life. Who holsters-up and looks down and thinks man, that is one beautiful gun. Also available in two-tone.

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52 COMMENTS

  2. Is Miller the same lady who was complicit in the Abramoff bribery scandal and then avoided personal liability by ratting out her fiancé to the Feds because he cheated on her?

  4. I hated glocks too, and then I bought one, a glock 29. Of all my carry guns I can shoot it the best and even in such a large caliber it is easy to control. It’s also one of the few firearms that I have ever completely disassembled and it comes apart and goes back together with ridiculous ease. I love the way 1911’s look but there isn’t a single 1911 made that I would take into a fight before a Glock 20. Same for the Sig that she bought, too complicated, too heavy and the bore axis is too high.

  5. Glocks are simple, rugged, and reliable. They have real – world functionality and effectiveness. To me, that’s a beautiful thing.

    Emily is pretty easy on the eyes also.

  6. I like Glocks because they just work, however I haven’t found the right one for me. I had a G36 that I enjoyed however it wasn’t pleasant to shoot with my large hands so I sold it. When I was first getting into handguns I tried the .40 caliber Glocks and didn’t like them so at that point I thought I just didn’t like Glocks. Now I understand I just don’t like the .40 caliber. I’d like to try a 9mm Glock sooner or later to see how I like it.

    • Massive hands? G17 only, if you want Glock. I tried the 19 and my pinky kept slipping off. No bueno. You could also go the 34 route, but damn that’s a long slide.

  7. If they ever make a Glock with a less severe grip angle I will be all over it. I refuse to train myself to compensate for what I view as a big flaw with the gun.

    • Dont you mean 1911s with their too extremely straight grips causing the front sight to always come up too high?

  8. “That said, Glocks save lives.”

    So do Sig Sauers, and 1911’s have been in the life saving business for over a century.

    “Miller should be celebrating Glocks even as she’s dissing them.”

    WHAT?

    When will the gun rights community realize that ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL!
    All of us have different preferences, different hands, different finger sizes, and different needs. While its a good thing everyone’s passionate about their brands, ultimately what works for RF may be completely unusable to Emily Miller.As such, stating that the latter should like Glock on principle is absurd. Perhaps her idea of perfection isn’t a poly framed black cube. She’s certainly not alone in that idea.

    She has her preferences, RF has his, and I have mine. What matters is that all of us can put rounds on target with whatever we own. All of us educated gun owners need to get over ourselves-myself included-and focus on accurate shooting, instead of dead-end brand debates that go nowhere. You are not going to convince me that a Glock 21 is a better choice for my needs than a 1911, and I in turn know better than to presume JMB’s .45 wunderpistol is better than the gun you spent your hard earned money on.

    In closing, hats off to Miss Miller for having the stones to state her opinion on Glocks in a room not likely to applaud her for doing so.

    • You misunderstand me. I’m not saying Glocks reign supreme. Quite the opposite. I’m saying that gun rights advocates should embrace ALL guns. They have their preferences, obviously. But Glocks serve the greater good as well as any other gun, and better than most. OK, I couldn’t resist. BTW: I carry a range of firearms. My go-to gun is a Caracal C.

      • “serve the greater good as well as any other gun, and better than most”

        Glocks account for most accidents and unintended injuries. IMO, Glocks are a bad choice for someone with limited training and infrequent practice who wants to call upon it as a home defense gun.

  9. Glocks are damn fine, reliable guns for a great price. There is a metric sh!te ton of accessories for them. I don’t find them comfortable to shoot. I could if I had nothing else but why buy a gun if you don’t like it for one reason or another.

  10. I rented a Glock for a two-day training session; had to constantly re-align the slide to compensate for the grip angle and the thing wore the skin off my right middle finger knuckle. Never again.

  11. I don’t care for Glocks either. That being said I hear the TSA had her strip down to very little before she could get on the plain.

  12. Glocks are definitely ugly. I have two big problems with Glocks. One is their cult following that lies about their reliability. I have SEEN Glock owners at the range have malfunctions and then later tell me their Glock has never jammed (That was a lip wristed shot, or an ammo related malfunction, don’t you know, and those don’t count). Because of the Glock cult I’ll never be able to get an honest idea of how reliable they are to most people.

    The second problem I have is their reliability and customer service. My friend bought a Glock 19 even though I was there and tried to talk him out of it, but he wanted to give Glock a chance. He intended it to be his carry gun and I made him a holster for it. He took it home to put a few rounds through it and it stovepiped in the first 4 rounds.

    We both brushed it off as a break in issue or a fluke, even though I Made fun of him for it. So we went to Gander Mountain and he bought around 500 rounds of various “high quality” ammos since Glocks are apparently really picky. He fired all 500 rounds in that same day and had 7 malfunctions – stove pipes, in-line stovepipes, and a few double feeds.

    What a piece of shit. So he found out that the Glock 3rd gen are fucking defective and had a recall – sorry, a ‘voluntary upgrade’ – because the ejectors are bad. So he took it to Gander Mountain to have them send it to Glock to get the ejector fixed.

    The Glock came back with the SAME MODEL EJECTOR! Glock replaced it with the SAME BROKEN PIECE OF SHIT! After that he traded in the Glock at the place he bought it at a huge loss (this whole ordeal took maybe 2 weeks) and bought an XDs instead.

    Last week he took some Pistol course and put 300 rounds through that XDs, no malfunctions. And I mean no malfunctions, not “malfunctions but I made excuses for them”. I made him a cute little holster for it and a mag carrier and he loves it.

    I guess all those malfunctions would have been excused by a Glock cultist and they would have proudly proclaimed that their Glock had never malfunctioned.

    • Funny seeing as how its the 4th Gens that were having issues due to the Recoil Spring Assmbly, not the Ejector…

  13. Breaking news! This just in! Glocks are ugly! Alert the media!

    As evidence, I offer the Glock 17. The Glock 17 isn’t just ugly, it defines ugly. It’s the poster gun for ugly. If ugly was a caliber, the G17 would be a field mortar. But it’s still a damn good gun.

  15. RF, I am guessing that Emily Miller’s preference in firearms was NOT the point of her speech. I’m sure she said something(s) in her speech that we would consider important. Why don’t you tell us about that, and stop wasting our time with inconsequential details?

    • @Bob: You are correct – Emily *did* have important things to share. Given that I was there, let me assist.

      First, Emily was amazed at how everyone in the gun community had been so encouraging and welcoming to her.

      Second, when she got started in the process, she didn’t realize just what a quest it was going to become. She thought it would be like going to the DMV to pick up a new driver’s license and that she’d have her gun within two weeks. She was handed a sheaf of paperwork that contained 17 steps she would have to go through. That plus $425 and missing days at work.

      Third, by publicizing the process, her efforts prodded the DC City Council to lower the cost to $185 plus get rid of 5 steps. She emphasized that as a Federal enclave the Council is afraid of Congress stepping in to rewrite their gun laws.

      Her comments about Glocks and her final choice of a Sig P229 were only an extemely small part of her talk.

  16. “Glocks are ugly. They really are.”
    — Hate is a strong word. She probably dislikes or is turned off by the appearance, features, ergonomics, and/or operating system of the Glock. The huge Glock religion or presence in gun stores and the gun community can be a turn-off for people not into Glocks.

    “Even if DC’s fascist poo-bahs suddenly decreed that residents were “free” to carry a Glock…”
    — I read tht line while sipping through my first cup of morning coffee here in the great PNW. At first I thought the line read ‘presidents’ rather than ‘residents’ and I’m like what the hexx?

    “Miller should be celebrating Glocks even as she’s dissing them”
    — Glocks have saved lives and other models used instead could have saved those lives too. I respect EM 1st Amendment rights to speak out openly and honestly of the truth as she sees it. Being an advocate for the 2A or RKBA does not require that person to support every gun and gun issue as others see fit.

    “A writer who owns several Glocks…”
    — Methinks, you have chosen to allow EM statement to hurt your feelings too much (2 many 2s in that sentence). That’s ok, because we all know you to be a great sensitive guy.

    • I’ll take my Pignose as a G40V model please. Make sure the vacuum tubes are in as good of condition as when they shipped when that pignose gets to me.

  18. I’ve never had a thing for glocks. I tried a buddy’s years ago & couldn’t hit sh1t with it.
    Shot another one last week at the range. Damn thing stovepiped almost every time.
    Maybe it’s me. Fortunately there’s lots of guns to make everyone happy.

    • Easy there Rambo. If you’re read her series about purchasing a gun in DC, you will know that she test fired a number of different guns in her quest to choose the right handgun.

      She has actually made policy changes to the gun ownership policies in DC. She’s done more to advanced gun rights in DC than your lifetime NRA membership ever has.

  20. The beauty of the Free-Market is that if you don’t like a Glock, go find a weapon that you like.

    Maybe it’s me, but I don’t think a Glock is ugly looking. But, I do think that a Sig P229 (I thought Ms. Miller was using a P226?) is ugly, and I don’t like it’s grip. Plus I don’t like Sigs triggers. But, again the beauty of the Free-Market, I can choose something to my liking.

    What’s really the concern, is that Ms. Miller should “load-up the truck” and move to Virginny, instead of living in that 3rd world country of DC (SE, NE, and SW are S-holes. The only quasi decent area in DC is NW, and that is sketchy in some parts). She’d have no problem getting her concealed carry permit, and be better able to protect herself from this sissy-boy who is threatening her.

      • I understand that. I did read her articles, and I am aware of DC gun politics since I live in Northern VA. I wouldn’t hold my breath on her being successful with the DC gubmint in changing things anytime soon.

  21. I used to make fun of Glocks and I never even dreamed of owning one of those ugly guns. Now I’ll only carry a Glock(except for the long gone lemon of a 36 that I sold) even though they’re still ugly. I’m picking up my new Gen 4 Glock 19 this week and I found someone with 3 preban 15 round mags. Now I can leave my new 15 rounders at home and take the prebans into MA without breaking one of the silliest laws I’ve ever seen. I’m pretty sure the preban 15 rounders will cause the same damage as any new banned mag.

  22. I’ve never understood whence came this “Glocks are perfect, Glocks are great, anyone who questions Glocks gets an inbox full of hate” nonsense originated among erstwhile intelligent gun owners.

    Folks: They’re just another gun. The reason why they became so popular with police departments has nothing to do with their functionality. It has a lot more to do with clever marketing, an aggressive sales force and the wine-n-dining of prospective law enforcement buyers at strip clubs.

    I own several of them. They work. Do I like them? For reliability, yes. As a preferred gun? No. They’re ugly, their trigger is abysmal and there’s nothing that can be done about either issue. Yet, I carry one because if I lose it to the evidence process after a DGU, I go down to the local Glock peddler, plunk down six bills and walk about with one just like the piece I just had to give up, all day, every day. They’re a commodity gun. There’s nothing remarkable about it, they’re nothing to brag about, they’re just a commodity that launches bullets. If my choice of gun ever were to come up in court, I just point to the fact that 65% of America’s cops pack a Glock and the discussion ends there.

    The lady is an asset to RKBA, even if she were shooting a Beretta Bobcat.

  23. Glocks? Simple to operate, drop dead reliable, no extraneous levers to operate except the trigger and mag release, it’s aesthetics says it’s all business and is there only for one thing- defend against a human predator and half the cost of a decent 1911; that spells beautiful to me.

  24. Glocks:

    Ugly, horrible trigger, giant 2×4 grip, awful grip angle. – Don’t hate them, simply dislike them immensely.

    My wife on the other hand completely hates them, as she said: “a safety on the trigger is the dumbest thing she’s ever heard of”

  26. I have an early 1st generation Glock 17 that I like very much. It is the gun that I usually home carry. It would most likely be the gun I grab if I was suddenly confronted with a bad situation (sometimes in winter, I’ll go to the 1911 in .45 because of heavier winter clothing on potential bad guys). I never really pondered if it was pretty or ugly. For me it works well, fits my bear paw sized hands, and to date has been utterly reliable, digesting everything I’ve fed it with zero malfunctions. I can fully understand a woman with “normal” sized hands (much smaller than mine) would not like the typical Glock, and as to the 2 tone color, hey, if we all liked the exact same thing, then life would be really dull and boring with only one choice of anything in any catagory. We would all be wearing the exact same clothing, drive identical cars, live in identical houses, we would all watch the one TV channel available. Nope, if she likes 2 tone, glad she could get one, one that fits her hands and shoots well for her. That is as it should be.

  27. I’ll never own a Glock, not because they are ugly ( yes they are ) or because of the stupid trigger safety or even because of the block of wood ergonomics. I’ll never own a Glock because I like my Beretta’s so much. There are Glock people… then there are the rest of us 🙂

  28. Glocks in the looks department are like workwear (Carhartt,Dickies). Very basic design and no frills. Now if you want to talk about ugly guns just look at Hi Points.

  29. Glocks are homely, no doubt about it. That’s why my wife loves them. We have a Glock 19 in the bedroom and she refuses to let me swap it out for a CZ75 or Hi Power. Because in the bedroom she doesn’t want competition.

  31. Glocks are ugly, but they’re really good guns. Is this really a point of debate?

    The lack of respect for Ms. Miller is amazing here. Does she know jack-all about guns? Pretty much, but she’s working on learning, has been humble from the get-go about her lack of knowledge, and has sought out some good training to improve herself. Moreover, she’s managed to bring *mainstream* attention to an issue that was previously limited to a few niche activists, and helped bring about massive changes in policy because of it.

    We need more converts like her, who realize that they can make it big by making gun rights mainstream.

    • If you read the posts and comments here I don’t think you’ll find anything less than respect for Ms. Miller’s efforts on behalf of gun rights or her own personal protection.

  32. [IMG]http://i1205.photobucket.com/albums/bb425/tomrkba/firearms/revolvers/Ruger-Alaskan/Ruger-Alaskan-Armor-Closeup-3.jpg[/IMG]

  33. Nothing wrong with Glocks, but from my experience the only brand of enthusiasts that is more angry and vehement about the superiority of their guns than 1911 fanboys are Glock fanboys.

    But yes. To each his/her own… gotta love America! =)

  34. Personally I like the look of the Glock. With that said the 1st thing I was told when I started my own journey two months ago was to try out a bunch of diff ones because they were all different. In my case after I tried Several handguns the 2 Sig Sauers, M&P, XDS, and a few Glocks. I found I prefered the triggers on the Glocks. With that said not everyone prefers the Glock that is the great thing. We all like choices. If all handguns were Glocks 19/22 many people would be unhappy.

    Thanks
    Robert

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