The following article appeared in the New York Daily News on Monday,
June 17th, 1996.
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CHEAP PISTOLS ARE SCHUMER'S NEWEST TARGET
The Saturday night special, the pocket pistol popular with street hoods
20 years ago, is back - and it's deadlier than ever.
That was a warning yesterday from Rep. Charles Schumer (D-Brooklyn), who
led last year's fight against large, expensive assault weapons and is
now targeting cheap, unreliable handguns.
"Saturday night specials are a plague on the streets of America,"
Schumer said.  "If we are going to get serious about ending gun
violence, we must start by getting these killing machines off our
streets."
Easily hidden in the palm, the short-barreled handguns - most of which
are made by five companies in the Los Angeles area - are flooding
America's streets at about $75 apiece, he said.
Unlike the foreign-made pistols used during the gang wars of the 1970s -
many of which were .22-caliber - today's Saturday night special is a
more deadly .380-caliber or 9-mm.
Schumer compared the guns to crack, calling them the poor man's
alternative to fancy $500 Smith & Wesson pistols.  "They are cheaper,
easier to get and much more deadly," he said.
Badly made, prone to jam and scorned by law-abiding gun enthusiasts, the
Saturday night special is a gun only a criminal could love, Schumer
said.
At a news conference yesterday, Schumer urged federal legislation to
limit gun purchases to one per month.
He was flanked by Alfredo Valentino, whose teenage son was killed by a
cheap handgun in a 1994 Bronx street shooting.
According to Schumer, the guns used most often in crimes last year were
made by five interrelated companies owned by members of one family and
an associate.
Seven of every ten guns used in New York state crimes last year were
made by the five California companies - Lorcin Engineering, Phoenix
Arms, Bryco Arms, Davis Industries and Sundance Industries, Schumer
said.
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