Welcome back to another edition of Concealed Carry Corner. Last week, we talked about the basics of finding the right optic for your carry gun. If you happened to miss that article, be sure to click the link here to check it out. This week, I wanted to take a look at how the Glock 19 rose to the gold standard of the carry gun market. I am well aware this article spot is sponsored by Glock, but if you go into the comment section of any top carry gun article, you will always see random people continuously say the Glock 19 is the absolute best. How did we get to this point and is it still true? Let's take a closer look at how the Glock 19 became the standard. Guns in The Market At The Time When the Glock 19 was first introduced back in 1988, you have to look at the overall market to see what was available. The HK VP70 was out, but it is widely known to have one of the worst triggers on a polymer handgun. The HK USP didn't drop for another year and the era of metal-framed 9mm handguns was in full swing. Police departments were snagging the 5906 and Beretta 92 FS platforms but weren't aware of the reliability of Glock for the time. As time went on, more and more departments started to understand just how reliable the Glock platform was, along with being an affordable option for departments. Glocks were cheaper to maintain while offering simplicity in terms of shooting and being some of the most reliable pistols in durability testing. The Glock 17 was the popular model for departments, but as officers picked up a smaller-frame handgun for concealed carry, the Glock 19 was the rising star when you look at overall size, capacity, and reliability. The Glock was simple to field strip, with essentially 4 parts to clean, with minimal effort. The general trend in the gun world is the idea that whatever the military or police departments use will have a higher purchase rate in the commercial civilian market. After the 3rd generation of the Glock 19 dropped, it was one of the main options for concealed carry guns and sold significantly better than other options like the HK USP due to cost and overall reputation in the market. When the 3rd Generation of the Glock 19 dropped, its market share was already established, with only more to come when the era of aftermarket Glock parts was right on the horizon. Progression With Aftermarket As more and more younger shooters began to grow up with shooting Glocks as their first handgun, it was a natural progression for them to start modifying their guns, which led to the massive tidal wave of aftermarket support for these handguns. Whether it was people wanting to start putting red dots, new slides or magwells on their guns, there were a number of companies that were cutting slides and doing aftermarket work. This overwhelming amount of aftermarket support meant you could build any configuration you could dream of, which truly skyrocketed the Glock 19's popularity in the concealed carry market I can personally say I fell victim to this early on by purchasing two separate Glock 19s that I had different ideas to customize and make my own. Almost everyone in their 20s and 30s who carry a concealed handgun has gone through the process of building out their own Glock. This made the Glock 19 the first choice when it comes to concealed carry for the ease of customizing in addition to its bulletproof reliability. Today's Offerings When it comes to the Glock 19 in 2026, there are several configurations in the 6th generation lineup. Whether its the new optics mounting system, subtle gas petal or flat faced trigger, the new offering takes cues from the aftermarket community of previous generations and adds them into the factory standard model. I truly do think Glock looked at what some of the most common aftermarket upgrades were and decided to build these options into the handgun as factory options so people wouldn't have to jump through hoops in order to have the handgun they want. I respect the new upgrades and think the 6th generation of Glock is a really strong offering right out of the gate without much need to customize. I’m very interested to see if the new 15-round factory magazines for the Glock 48 and 43X make a difference in sales for Glock, where people want to move to a slightly thinner and smaller handgun for concealed carry. While some may move to the Glock 48, there is an overwhelming number of people who will stick with the new Glock 19 because they think it's truly the perfect size. Overall ThoughtsGlock brought us into the modern age of handgun design with their perfected polymer frame and simple construction, paving the way for modern striker-fired handguns that dominate the majority of the concealed carry market. While we may all have our own personal preferences on what we carry, there's no denying how prevalent the Glock 19 has become in modern gun culture.What do you guys think of the new Glock 19 variants? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. If you have questions about carrying concealed or firearms in general, feel free to shoot me a message on Instagram @fridgeoperator. Stay safe out there and we will see you next week for another edition of Concealed Carry Corner.TFB’s Concealed Carry Corner is brought to you by GLOCK