Gal, Uziel

▪ 2003

      Israeli army officer and inventor (b. Dec. 15, 1923, Germany—d. Sept. 7, 2002, Philadelphia, Pa.), designed the Uzi submachine gun, a compact automatic weapon used throughout the world as a police and special-forces firearm. Gal's family moved to Palestine in 1936. He studied mechanical engineering while imprisoned (1943–45) by the British authorities there for unauthorized firearms possession. On his release he developed weapons for the new Israeli army. In 1954 the Uzi was introduced, and it quickly spread to other markets, securing great profits for Israel, if not for the gun's designer. Gal produced a weapon that was easy to load, compact, heat- and dust- resistant, and reasonably stable and accurate even when fired automatically. Because of its safety trigger, it was also less hazardous to the user than earlier models. Gal continued to develop armaments for Israel until his retirement in 1976.

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