The so called Saturday Night Special(Pot Metal guns...)

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whm1974

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OK the term in the title described cheaply made handguns or "Throw Away Guns" that quite a few reporters and politicians proclaimed criminals preferred due to them being cheap to replace. This was later shown to be a mostly false assumption as these types of firearms were purchased by those who needed protection but could not afford to spend much...

I was hearing this description also being applied to better made firearms such as the Ruger Mini-14 rifle and Mark II pistol during the late 80's and early 90's for some odd reason by anti-gun folks...

Another claim I heard often was that the SNS were made out of Pot Metal that will melt on a hot stove/in oven, not withstanding that the metals used in those alloys have much higher melt temperature Then those household appliances are even capable of...

Any thoughts? As a low income person I find the term Saturday Night Special to be offensive as it implies that folks don't deserve the means to protect themselves against violence.
 
It was more offensive as the term usually contained a racist term which we don't need to repeat here.
 
I was always led to believe it meant a small framed short barrel DA revolver in 38 special cartridge that had no safety device and was easily concealed and cheap... a old rossi comes to mind.
 
It was more offensive as the term usually contained a racist term which we don't need to repeat here.
I know it is considered a racist term but wasn't always applied as such when middle income and upper folks used it. Those folks used it toward those they considered to be basically to be "Trash"...
 
Saturday night special was a term to describe a cheap gun that was small and affordable, to call it a racist term is incorrect IMO. There may be racist and/or bigots out there trying to apply the term incorrectly, like..." it's the gun that killed them, not the shooter" or "corporations trying to stop the import of low cost guns" that the meager or impoverished among us (sometimes me) can afford. I could go on and on, it is just a term to describe a object, not a class or race of people...IMO
 
Davis P32, Jennings J22, Raven P25. all cool guns I'd like to have back...
 
I was always led to believe it meant a small framed short barrel DA revolver in 38 special cartridge that had no safety device and was easily concealed and cheap... a old rossi comes to mind.

From what I remember, the press would always use a revolver picture when talking about Saturday Night Specials
 
Saturday night special was a term to describe a cheap gun that was small and affordable, to call it a racist term is incorrect IMO. There may be racist and/or bigots out there trying to apply the term incorrectly, like..." it's the gun that killed them, not the shooter" or "corporations trying to stop the import of low cost guns" that the meager or impoverished among us (sometimes me) can afford. I could go on and on, it is just a term to describe a object, not a class or race of people...IMO

Your opinion is incorrect:

https://www.firearmsandliberty.com/cramer.racism.html


http://davekopel.org/2A/Mags/dark-secret-of-jim-crow.html

https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/civil-rights/347324-the-racist-origin-of-gun-control-laws?amp


http://www.gunsopedia.com/Saturday_night_special
 
...to call it a racist term is incorrect IMO.
The term itself doesn't reference it's racist roots, but the term is the shortened linguistic descendant of a racist epithet applied to the naming of that class of guns when the Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed in response to racist fears heightened in 1967. To deny that is to try to attempt to rewrite history or demonstrate one's lack of knowledge of that history
 
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Pot metal is a zinc based alloy that can wear quickly yet it starting be used by some name brands for 22 caliber handguns. MIM is steel, no zinc.
 
I'm not as cool as Oaktree45 with his handsome collection, but I have had a Jennings, a Raven, and a Lorcin at one time or another. Because they're cheap, that's why. Sometimes it's fun to see how well a small amount of cash can do!
 
While there was some value to the discussion, it wandered into topics not relevant us and continued that way.

Thus, closed.
 
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