Westside : West Hollywood Officials Delay Handgun Ban

A ban on the sale of cheap handguns that was to begin today in West Hollywood has been postponed to give officials more time to compile a list of weapons that will be outlawed.

The Westside city was the first in the state to prohibit the sale of so-called “Saturday night specials”--inspiring Compton, Los Angeles and other communities to propose similar laws.

The West Hollywood City Council asked its staff to compile a list of the banned weapons, including those with inadequate safety devices or those made with substandard materials.

But officials said they could not complete the list by the proposed effective date of the law because of the vast number and variety of pistols whose safety features must be reviewed. The law will now take effect when the list is completed, probably within several weeks. . . .