The movement is taking hold vigorously. So far, the city of Compton has also passed an ordinance banning handguns and the city of Los Angeles banned Saturday night specials with a unanimous city council vote. West Hollywood's action also inspired 16 contiguous communities in the San Francisco Bay area in Northern California to ban Saturday night specials. All but three of those bans went into effect in early 1997, with a goal of creating a regional solution to a regional problem. Local communities have had to take the initiative because bills banning Saturday night specials have not passed the state legislature, despite public opinion polls that show that citizens of California want to eliminate the sale of Saturday night specials in their communities.
Local communities can be more responsive to their citizens than the state legislature.
However, they must also be more wary of lawsuits by organizations which oppose their actions. West Hollywood felt it was on strong ground, for two reasons. First, the council worked with a firearms and ammunition design expert and former member of the National Rifle Association who believes that Saturday night specials are useless, dangerous weapons. He developed a definition of Saturday night specials that would prevent gun manufacturers from making small changes in handguns just to circumvent the ordinance. The same expert drew up a list of handguns currently on the market that would fall under the ban, and this list was sent to manufacturers who could appeal the listings.