Wikipedia:WikiProject Firearms
Welcome to the Firearms WikiProject, a collaboration area and group of editors dedicated to improving Wikipedia's coverage of Firearms.
(For more information on WikiProjects, please see Wikipedia:WikiProject and the Guide to WikiProjects).
- Goals
- Improve articles on firearms, both civilian and military, with an emphasis on civilian firearms, as the WP:WEAPON already covers military arms.
- To add the below infobox to firearm articles, along with the ammo infobox for ammo, and add the banner to firearms articles.
- To add proper categories to firearm articles.
- Scope
- Firearms typically considered small arms and carried by an individual rather than vehicle-mounted and team-served military weapons. Topics encompassing both broad concepts and specific models, ammunition, manufacturers, organizations, legislation, and historical figures such as inventors and notable gunsmiths associated with such firearms.
Style guide
Naming
The names of firearm articles should start with the proper name of the manufacturer, followed by the firearm's name. Examples of this policy are Heckler & Koch MP7 instead of MP7 or Smith & Wesson Model 1006 instead of S&W Model 1006. Exceptions to this are firearms named with military designations such as M16 rifle or AK-47. See WP:WEAPON#Naming conventions for the guideline on naming military firearms.
Structure
Firearm articles should be structured largely along the following guidelines (consistent with guidelines contained in WP:MILGUN for military weapons):
- History. A history of the firearm, including background events leading to the design and the evolution of the design.
- Design and features. A description of the major points of the firearm, including details of the operating mechanism, how the firearm is maintained and operated by the user, and the cartridge(s) the firearm is chambered in.
- Use. The intended/common uses of the firearm (ex: hunting, competitive shooting, defense, etc.)
- Variants. A list and description of all variants and close descendants of the firearm, plus production details when available.
- Accessories. A list and description of accessories that are commonly associated with the firearm.
- Cultural impact, if any. A general summary of the firearm's impact on culture, complying with the guidelines on popular culture.
Non-firearm articles associated with WikiProject Firearms should generally follow the structure guidelines that are already associated with the appropriate type of article, such as constitutional law articles, jurisprudence articles, chemistry articles, and other categories of articles that often overlap with WikiProject Firearms.
The goal of WikiProject Firearms for articles tagged with the project's banner is to improve the firearms related content, such as improving the accuracy of articles vs. misconceptions that often arise due to pop-culture fiction, movie physics, and similar non-factual beliefs. In general, WikiProject Firearms goals are to work on improving the quality of project-tagged articles without imposing WikiProject Firearms guidelines as mandates.
Popular culture
Appearances of firearms in popular culture should only be listed if they have been discussed in reliable secondary sources. The depictions themselves (films, TV shows, video games, comic books, novels, etc) are primary sources and are insufficient for inclusion. Video games frequently depict firearms unrealistically and their use is rarely covered in secondary sources. For that reason unsourced entries concerning video games should be deleted without requesting a source first. Replicas, such as Airsoft and toys, are not notable to firearm articles unless they have been discussed in reliable secondary sources. Where sources are available, popular culture appearances should receive coverage appropriate to their significance to the subject of the article; as per WP:UNDUE. The material should explain the subject's impact on popular culture rather than simply listing appearances. See WP:MILPOP for the guidelines pertaining to military history, excluding firearms. Examples of good content include .44 Magnum and Mauser C96.
Criminal use
In order for criminal use to be notable enough for inclusion in the article on the gun used, it should meet some criteria. For instance, legislation being passed as a result of the gun's usage (ex. ban on mail-order of firearms after use of the Carcano in JFK's assassination) or if its notoriety is greatly increased (ex. the Intratec TEC-DC9 became infamous as a direct result of Columbine). This is determined on a case-by-case basis in accordance with WP:UNDUE. As per WP:UNDUE, "Neutrality requires that each article or other page in the mainspace fairly represent all significant viewpoints that have been published by reliable sources, in proportion to the prominence of each viewpoint in the published, reliable sources."
Variants
Variants of a model of a firearm such as folding/telescoping stock variants, target versions, variants chambered in a new caliber, compact/carbine variants, models covered by the same factory-issued users manual generally should not receive their own article. Instead, use a section for the variant in the parent firearm's article or consolidate it into a table or the text. The exception to this is where significant amounts of design and/or history would be lost by merging. An example of this is the M4 Carbine. Despite the fact that the M4 Carbine is only a carbine version of the M16A2 and its internal components are completely interchangeable with those of the M16 rifle, the M4's development history is significantly different, qualifying it for its own article.
Users
When listing users of a certain weapon, only include users that have a citation to go with them. This citation must specifically say that the force, unit, or notable individual in question uses the weapon. That is to say a photograph of someone holding what appears to be the weapon does not qualify as a reference.
Citations
Cite as much information as possible. This way the articles will have more credibility. Extraordinary claims require citations from very reliable sources. If you don't want something you have added to be deleted, cite a reliable source, assuming the source supports your statement.
Open tasks
If you find anything that really needs to be on the list, just add it to the list. Be sure to say what you are adding in your edit summary, with wikilink to the article. When someone has completed the task, that person should cross out the article from the list, and if everyone agrees, it should be removed from the list two or three days after being crossed out (note: this doesn't include requests, once an article is created it should be removed completely or moved to one of the categories as needed).
For articles marked as "needing attention" see Category:Firearms_articles_needing_attention
When adding entries to the list, please do so in alphabetical order.