A Saturday night special is an American colloquial term for a small, inexpensive handgun. The term is considered highly prejudicial, as it implies that the gun in question would only be owned for criminal means. The more inoffensive, and legally preferred, term for this class of firearm is junk guns.
The term "Saturday night special" is a slightly shortened version of the original term, "niggertown Saturday night special," which dropped from common use around the late 19th century. B. Bruce-Briggs wrote in the Public Interest, "It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the 'Saturday Night Special' is emphasized because it is cheap and being sold to a particular class of people. The name is sufficient evidence—the reference is to 'niggertown Saturday night.'"
The term "Saturday night special" is often used disparagingly to emphasize the poor quality of the gun or, for political reasons relating to gun control, to emphasize easy availability to those who are legally prevented from owning firearms, such as convicted criminals and minors.
The term is thought to indicate that the only reason for the manufacture of such a gun is for use in crime; in fact, studies show that criminals prefer high quality guns, in the largest caliber they can easily concel. Research has shown that that most criminals prefer guns that are easily concealable, large caliber, and well made (Guns Used in Crime: Firearms, Crime, and Criminal Justice--Selected Findings July 1995, NCJ-148201). Most guns used in violent crimes are large caliber revolvers, although semiautomatics are becomming more common.
The choice in guns, and the change from revolvers to semiautomatics, mirrors the choice in defensive weapons used by police and the legal civilian market. Many criminals, a majority in the case of juvenile criminals, obtained their guns through theft, or through a known fence selling stolen guns. Thise make the issue of the original cost of the guns wholly (in the case of stolen guns) or largely (in the case of fenced guns) irrellevant.
