diff --git a/gerrydb/create.py b/gerrydb/create.py
index 1eab5ff..bdf24d4 100644
--- a/gerrydb/create.py
+++ b/gerrydb/create.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 import click
 
 from gerrydb import GerryDB
-
+from gerrydb.exceptions import ResultError
 
 @click.group()
 def cli():
@@ -19,8 +19,13 @@ def namespace(path: str, description: str, public: bool):
     """Creates a namespace."""
     db = GerryDB()
     with db.context(notes=f'Creating namespace "{path}" from CLI') as ctx:
-        ctx.namespaces.create(path=path, description=description, public=public)
-
+        try:
+            ctx.namespaces.create(path=path, description=description, public=public)
+        except ResultError as e:
+            if "Failed to create namespace" in e.args[0]:
+                print(f"Failed to create {path} namespace, already exists")
+            else:
+                raise e
 
 @cli.command()
 @click.argument("path")
@@ -31,8 +36,13 @@ def geo_layer(path: str, description: str, namespace: str, source_url: Optional[
     """Creates a geographic layer."""
     db = GerryDB(namespace=namespace)
     with db.context(notes=f'Creating geographic layer "{path}" from CLI') as ctx:
-        ctx.geo_layers.create(path=path, description=description, source_url=source_url)
-
+        try:
+            ctx.geo_layers.create(path=path, description=description, source_url=source_url)
+        except ResultError as e:
+            if "Failed to create geographic layer" in e.args[0]:
+                print(f"Failed to create {path} layer, already exists")
+            else:
+                raise e
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     cli()
diff --git a/gerrydb/repos/locality.py b/gerrydb/repos/locality.py
index 9136e32..5476252 100644
--- a/gerrydb/repos/locality.py
+++ b/gerrydb/repos/locality.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 from gerrydb.repos.base import ObjectRepo, err, normalize_path, online, write_context
 from gerrydb.schemas import Locality, LocalityCreate, LocalityPatch
-
+from gerrydb.exceptions import ResultError
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from gerrydb.client import GerryDB, WriteContext
 
@@ -35,9 +35,9 @@ def get(self, path: str) -> Optional[Locality]:
         response.raise_for_status()
         return Locality(**response.json())
 
-    @err("Failed to create locality")
-    @write_context
-    @online
+    @err("Failed to create locality") # Decorator for handling HTTP request and Pydantic validation errors
+    @write_context # Decorator for marking operations that require a write context
+    @online # Decorator for marking online-only operations
     def create(
         self,
         canonical_path: str,
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ def create(
         Returns:
             The new locality.
         """
+        # attempts to post the locality (store in webserver)
+        # url, json
         response = self.ctx.client.post(
             "/localities/",
             json=[
@@ -78,8 +80,9 @@ def create(
                 ).dict()
             ],
         )
-        response.raise_for_status()
 
+        # checks for errors in the response, if raised, handled by error decorator
+        response.raise_for_status()
         return Locality(**response.json()[0])
 
     @err("Failed to create localities")
@@ -101,13 +104,42 @@ def create_bulk(
         Returns:
             The new localities.
         """
-        response = self.ctx.client.post(
-            "/localities/",
-            json=[loc.dict() for loc in locs],
-        )
-        response.raise_for_status()
-
-        return [Locality(**loc) for loc in response.json()]
+        loc_list = [-1]*len(locs)
+        for i, loc in enumerate(locs):
+            try:
+                loc_object = self.create(canonical_path=loc.canonical_path,
+                        name=loc.name,
+                        parent_path=loc.parent_path,
+                        default_proj=loc.default_proj,
+                        aliases=loc.aliases,)
+                loc_list[i] = loc_object
+            except ResultError as e:
+                if "Failed to create canonical path to new location(s)." in e.args[0]:
+                    print(f"Failed to create {loc.name}, path already exists")
+                else:
+                    raise e
+        
+        return loc_list
+                
+            
+
+        # loc_list = [-1]*len(locs)
+        # for i, loc in enumerate(locs):
+        #     response = self.ctx.client.post(
+        #     "/localities/",
+        #     json=[loc.dict()],
+        # )
+        #     response.raise_for_status()
+        #     loc_list[i] = Locality(**response.json()[0])
+        # return(loc_list[i])
+                
+        # response = self.ctx.client.post(
+        #     "/localities/",
+        #     json=[loc.dict() for loc in locs],
+        # )
+        # response.raise_for_status()
+
+        # return [Locality(**loc) for loc in response.json()]
 
     @err("Failed to update locality")
     @write_context
diff --git a/gerrydb/repos/namespace.py b/gerrydb/repos/namespace.py
index 95ddb27..31d5a45 100644
--- a/gerrydb/repos/namespace.py
+++ b/gerrydb/repos/namespace.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 )
 from gerrydb.schemas import Namespace, NamespaceCreate
 
+
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from gerrydb.client import GerryDB, WriteContext
 
@@ -83,8 +84,9 @@ def create(
                 path=path, public=public, description=description
             ).dict(),
         )
-        response.raise_for_status()
 
+        response.raise_for_status()
+        
         return Namespace(**response.json())
 
     def __getitem__(self, path: str) -> Optional[Namespace]:
diff --git a/gerrydb/schemas.py b/gerrydb/schemas.py
index dab88eb..e463264 100644
--- a/gerrydb/schemas.py
+++ b/gerrydb/schemas.py
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@
 
 UserEmail = constr(max_length=254)
 
-GerryPath = constr(regex=r"[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-_/]*")
+# constr is a constrained string, so this is some path that needs to satisfy this regex
+GerryPath = constr(regex=r"[a-z0-9][a-z0-9-_/]*") # must start with lowercase or digit, then followed by any lowercase, digit, hyphen, underscore, slash
 NamespacedGerryPath = constr(regex=r"[a-z0-9/][a-z0-9-_/]*")
 
 NATIVE_PROJ = pyproj.CRS("EPSG:4269")