WikiProject Firearms notability recommendations and advice on compliance with Wikipedia Policies and Guidelines

Please note that the WikiProject Firearms guidelines below are not an official Wikipedia Guideline at present, nor among the deletion-actionable notability criteria enumerated at Wikipedia:Deletion policy. It therefore should not be relied upon in the article deletion process, which is subject to the WP Policies and Guidelines, not WikiProject recommendations.

This WikiProject guideline depends upon and is not intended to conflict in any way with Wikipedia:Notability criteria for article inclusion, particularly the General Notability Guideline (GNG). Rather, it guides article creators/editors on the application of Wikipedia Policies and Guidelines, including Wikipedia:Notability and Wikipedia:Deletion policy, as they apply to the firearms articlespace and categoryspace. In particular, the intent of this guideline is to help editors avoid the creation of articles that are likely to be deleted for failure to establish notability (verifiability with non-trivial coverage multiple, independent, reliable secondary sources). It is entirely possible that a subject that does not appear to qualify as notable under the terms in this document is in fact notable under the PNC.

For each broad type of firearms topic, this WikiProject's editors offer rules of thumb on what is likely to constitute sufficient importance and encyclopedic value as to attract enough verifiable independent sources to establish notability, to help editors create articles that are less likely to be the target of deletion efforts. There is no Wikipedia Policy against including articles on subjects that do not meet this guideline's criteria, but doing so is highly likely to result in the article being nominated for deletion or even deleted immediately. Following the guidelines below will help ensure that the firearms articlespace is composed of solid, well-researched articles on demonstrably notable topics.

In the guidelines below, must (in italics) means that the requirement is derived from accepted WP Policies, while should (in italics) means that it is derived from non-controversial WP Guidelines. Note that articles that ignore one or more "should"-marked recommendations are liable to inspire other Wikipedians to nominate them for deletion or at best merge them into other articles, while those that violate a "must"-marked requirement will almost certainly be subject to speedy deletion.

Firearms

There is a wide variety of firearms in existence, and an almost endless number of variations of them, with sniper models, varmint models, various barrel lengths, special editions, and more. (see List of firearms, List of assault rifles, List of pistols and more) Many are of lesser long-term importance. A few basic guidelines should be kept in mind before creating an article for a specific firearm.

Cartridges

There is an unbelievable number of firearms cartridges in existence. (see Table of pistol and rifle cartridges by year, List of handgun cartridges, List of rifle cartridges and more) Many are of lesser long-term importance. A few basic guidelines should be kept in mind before creating an article for a specific cartridge.

Persons

For a person to have an article about them and be listed in Category:Firearm designers or any similar firearms related category such as Category:Gunsmiths they must be important and recognized enough that facts about them can be verified ("published by reliable sources"). They must be neither unduly detracted from nor excessively praised but treated neutrally, nor speculated or personally opined about. They should (if still living, must) not have their privacy violated; must have controversial alleged facts about them cited with references (or this material will be subject to immediate removal from the article); and not have their article populated with potentially self-serving alleged facts from official bios or personal websites or the like, unless verifiable elsewhere. Such biographies should not be substantially self-authored or authored by friends or associates of the subject unless they carefully follow all WP Guidelines and Policies with regard to neutral point of view, original research, verifiability, etc., just like any other biography on Wikipedia, and such editors must not attempt to unduly control the content of the article (including by attacking other editors of the article), must not evidence a demonstrable conflict of interest, nor promote goods/services or personal viewpoints. An article on a person that appears to exist simply for personal vanity or self-aggrandizement will be fast-tracked for deletion. Biographies that appear to be totally bogus (e.g., an article about some random junior high school kid which claims he created the world best cartridge) will be flagged for rapid removal as well. This articlespace is watched very closely for garbage articles and edits.

Furthermore, as with biographical articles elsewhere on Wikipedia, subjects of firearms bios (living or dead) must not be outright defamed or attacked or they will be deleted immediately. Be cautious of categorizations that may be controversial, privacy invasive or unverified allegations of sexual preference, etc. If you detect a serious problem with the biography of a living person, feel that the article is not simply an attack or a vanity piece and thus is worth saving, but have had your attempts to resolve the problem reverted or otherwise thwarted, report the issue on the Bios of Living People Noticeboard.

A biographical article that is based mostly or entirely on an official bio, résumé or CV published by the person on their web site, in their professional tour literature, on the cover of their book, etc., should be carefully re-worded to the extent possible to avoid copyright violation, cited as to the source, and marked as a stub article with ((firearms-stub)). Most bios are not outright falsifications, of course; but many are exaggeratory, omit important facts, or are written in a way that is easy to misinterpret in the most flattering possible light, and as such generally do not have a neutral point of view. This requires article cleanup and broadened reference citations.

Articles in the firearms articlespace that do not meet these criteria are likely to be nominated for deletion by other Wikipedians (regardless of the existence of these WikiProject recommendations).

Organizations

National and international organizations (whether non-profit or commercial) that sponsor tournaments, are industry associations, promote legal and social issues (e.g. NRA and Brady Campaign), or otherwise play some identifiable and notable role in firearms (e.g. the SAAMI) are good article candidates. Regional organizations (e.g. on the state-wide level in the US) might also be, if not simply divisions, affiliates or chapters of larger ones. Editors, please remember that articles about organizations must not be wholesale copy-pastes from their websites (edit the material carefully to reword it enough that it does not violate copyright), and should not be authored by representatives of the organization.

Manufacturers, suppliers and service providers

Major companies that have contributed very significantly to the evolution or advancement of firearms are potentially good topics for inclusion (e.g. Browning Arms Company, Hornady, Beretta). Makers of an obscure or new product, even a very popular or innovative one (e.g. a particular brand of gunsmith tools or a fancy new trigger), are not good article subjects (though in rare cases the product itself might be suitable for article or article-section treatment; see "Equipment", below. Articles about commercial providers of a firearms-related product or service, like biographical articles, must adhere to the Wikipedia Policies and Guidelines for good article writing; see "Persons", above, for details. Articles about companies must not be wholesale copy-pastes from their websites (edit the material carefully to reword it enough that it does not violate copyright), and should not be authored by representatives of the company. Manufacturers of less than industry-wide renown might be placed into a list article. Suppliers and retailers emphatically should not be put into any such article, as that would simply be begging for wikispam. Wikipedia is not a webmall and is not Yahoo! or Google.

WikiSpam will be deleted mercilessly. This includes (obvious or disguised) advertising in article text, as well as blatantly commercial links to web catalogs or to ads for offline or online products/services.

Periodicals

Periodical publications with significant non-local readership (such as American Rifleman or Shooting Times) may warrant articles, or entries in an article about such publications. Articles about publications must not be wholesale copy-pastes from their websites (edit the material carefully to reword it enough that it does not violate copyright), and should not be authored by representatives of the publication.

Shooting sports and other organized events

As with players and organizations, for an event (such as a championship or an industry tradeshow) or event tour to be notable it generally must have more than local or small-region significance, and be verifiable and neutral as to the information in the article. A special event, such as a celebrity charitable tournament probably is not important enough for an article (expect other Wikipedians to challenge you to justify it in an AfD) unless it is a large, regular event (annual or bi-annual). [However, note by way of comparison that even the enormously popular stand-up comedy fundraiser Comic Relief featuring Whoopie Goldberg, Robin Williams and Billy Crystal, which has been running for over a decade, does not have a Wikipedia article as of this writing, in October 2010.] Articles about events must not be wholesale copy-pastes from the event's website or those of its organizers, hosts, promoters or sponsors (edit the material carefully to reword it enough that it does not violate copyright), and should not be authored by representatives of the tournament organizers, hosts, promoters or sponsors.

Fictional Firearms

Fictional firearms (e.g. the gun carried by Malcom Reynolds from the Firefly (TV series) television series) should be written about in the articles relating to the works in which they appear; they do not warrant their own articles.

See also

Categories