From: ataylor@nmsu.edu (Nosy)
Subject: "Mr. Saturday Night Special" (Was: Andy Freeman vs Random House Dictionary (was: Nabbing a car thief))
Organization: NMSU Computer Science
	<LAMBERT.92Dec16030320@nankeen.spectrum.cs.unsw.oz.au>
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 16:58:31 GMT

<In article <LAMBERT.92Dec16030320@nankeen.spectrum.cs.unsw.oz.au> lambert@spectrum.cs.unsw.oz.au (Tim Lambert) writes:
<>>>>> On 15 Dec 92 00:11:17 GMT, kennejs@a.cs.okstate.edu (KENNEDY JAMES SCOT) said:

<> Somebody (I lost track of who) writes:
<>>> Now, Tim, what exactly is a "Saturday Night Special"?...
<>                  ^^^^^^^
<> Tim replies:
<>>a cheap, small caliber handgun that is easily obtainable

<> So, the problem with this definition:
<> I bought a S&W .38 special revolver for $150.  Handed the guy a check
<> (didn't even have to use cash) and he handed me the gun.  He had a dozen
<> more just like it.  It fits the above definition just fine.
<> However, I don't think most people would call it a "Sat. Night Special"!
<> Why?  It's a target revolver!  It has adjustable sights, extra long 8 3/8 "
<> barrel, and is a well built, quality, nice looking, super accurate gun.

<Cheap also means "low quality".  

	The term "cheap" is used in this context in an ambiguous
	way, often deliberately so.

	Is Lambert using the term to mean "low quality" exclusively?


<Since when is .38 small calibre?

	There are people who regard anything smaller than
	.45 (11.43mm) as a "minor" or "small" caliber; they
	are, however, pro-gun so Lambert may not value their
	opinion.

	But US gun-grabbers have also labeled .38 handguns
	as SNS's.....

<You seem to have an opinion on what a SNS is.  Let's see your
<definition.

	Well, the definition that various gun-ban groups used 
	in the 1970's was semantically equivalent to "Any handgun
	we don't like", as they labeled all of the following firearms
	SNS's:

		* .22, .25 and .32 imported autopistols
		  (many of which were no longer imported after
		   GCA-1968, anyway).
		* Domestically manufactured .22, .25 and .32
		  autopistols.
		* .38 snub-nosed revolvers. 
		* any revolver that could be made to fire by 
		  dropping it onto the hammer from a height of 
		  3 meters (or more) including target revolvers.
		* any autopistol that could be made to fire	
		  by dropping it onto the hammer from a height
		  of 3 meters (or more) including target .22 pistols.
		
	The list is far from exclusive, obviously. The handyness
	of this slippery definition is readily seen; today's
	target pistol is tomorrow's SNS, and thus the glorious
	crusade can progress.

	Interestingly, the Maryland state committee that decides what 
	"is" and what "is not" a sellable handgun (and thus, in
	a left-handed sort of way, what is/is not an SNS) has so
	far banned very few handguns. The committee is thus doing
	more or less what Sarah Brady claimed it would do, when she
	was tub-thumping for it. Regular readers of this newsgroup
	will, no doubt, be shocked to learn that Brady has openly
	criticized this committee for not banning more guns....
	I believe she was particularly upset about the failure
	to ban "invisible" Glocks. If so, it would be particularly
	ironic, because the Glock is now standard DC police issue....

<> It just seems to me that the definition is far too sloppy to be very
<> meaningful.  The above defintion seems to apply to nifty target guns as
<> well as crappy homebuilt guns.  You know, pieces of water pipe taped to
<> a board with a nail to fire the cartridge.

	Exactly. The term is fuzzy and, IMNSHO, deliberately
	so. It is a term with low semantic content and high
	emotive content, perfect for the gun-grabbers to try
	to write into law.

<> So, Tim, what exactly is a "Saturday Night Special"?

<  No, it's your turn now.

	One cannot help but suspect that Lambert's definition,
	if boiled to the essence, would be the same as the
	1970's US gun-grabbers: "any handgun I don't like".


	And here's another definition:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
	"Mr. Saturday Night Special
	 Got a barrel that's blue and cold
	 Ain't good for nothin'
	 But put a man six feet in a hole"
				----Lynard Skynard
----------------------------------------------------------------------