What gun was Mrs Tuohy from the blind side referring to when she said she packs a Saturday night special?

Answer 1

"Saturday Night Special" isn't a name for a particular gun; it refers to the nature of the gun.

A Saturday Night Special is first and foremost an inexpensive gun. Traditionally, they have been of .38 Caliber and less, many of them being .32's and .25's; both cheap semi-autos and old revolvers.

They also tend to be small.

The basic idea here is that if you were going out on some Saturday night, especially to a place that might be somewhat rough at times, you would take a Saturday Night Special. You wanted it to be small, thus easy to hide, and you wanted it to be cheap enough to throw away in case you needed to use it.

The concept of a "Throwaway Gun" is the same, albeit for a different purpose. A throwaway would be planted on someone you had just shot in order to bolster a claim of self defense.

For what it's worth, the use of the term Saturday Night Special in the movie 'Blind Side' was simply meant to be derogatory. The character using the term meant it as an insult to Mrs Touhy and to her firearm. Also, it's fairly doubtful that whatever gun she carries on any particular day (She has several) that ANY of them could be described as "Saturday Night Specials". She has enough money to be able to afford a quality gun from a good manufacturer.