Volume 26, Issue 6: December, 1999

Abstract

THE CALIFORNIA VIOLENCE PREVENTION INITIATIVE: ADVANCING POLICY TO BAN SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIALS

Lawrence Wallack, DrPH

The California Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) was conceived in 1993 as a 5-year, $35 million comprehensive community, media, research, and policy advocacy effort to reduce violence among youth. The VPI included an emphasis on three broad policy areas: shifting society's definition of violence to include a public health perspective, reducing access to alcohol and other drugs, and limiting availability of handguns. For the first 3 years of the VPI, the policy focus was on reducing the availability of handguns to youth through efforts to ban the manufacture and sale of Saturday night specials (SNSs). Prior to the VPI, there were no local SNS bans. Now, there are bans in 41 California jurisdictions, including major population centers. After two vetoes of a state-wide legislative ban by the former governor, a SNS ban is expected to be signed by a newly elected governor.