Following on the heels of the successful banning of switchblade knives, the "Saturday Night Special" was the Left's next target.
These small affordable handguns were the type used in movies and television of that era, talked about by the media, sung about in the songs in order to make them acceptable to the public for banning... just like happened with the switchblades.
In the 1980s, the Left turned it's attention to a new type firearm why is why all the crime shows in the 1980s used full auto Uzi/MAC-10 type weapons which were successfully restricted in 1986.
“shows in the 1980s used full auto Uzi/MAC-10 type weapons’
“Night of the Comet” Mac10 a housewives best friend
Back in 1968, Little Rock AR, I had a gun dealer tell me that his store had been broken into and only .22 revolvers stolen.
He said he knew it was blacks because “no one would sell anything to a black but .22 ammo” so he knew it was blacks. His words not mine.