Talk:Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence

Public Interest Law vs Think Tank or Advocacy organization
Would just like to get input on exactly how to classify this particular organization. Is this a public interest law organization or a think tank or advocacy organization? It seems to advocate or push for certain laws to be passed, much like a think tank would. Thoughts? Krakaet (talk) 17:55, 11 September 2020 (UTC)

NPOV/Advert issues
Lots of NPOV issues here. The whole thing feels like a press release. Faceless Enemy (talk) 22:36, 11 August 2015 (UTC)


 * Specifically what? I gave it a quick view and didn't see anything wrong.  SimplyACat (talk) 17:32, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

"civil rights organization"
The article currently reads "By 1999, the civil rights organization began to develop a national strategy". I believe added this, and has re-added multiple times it without any summary. I don't believe that the LCPGV is a civil rights organization. In fact, it's actually seeking restrictions on a right. Moreover, the Center doesn't call itself a civil rights organization (so far as I can tell), and it hasn't been called that in secondary sources either. EarlyNews, if you would like to have the "civil rights" language remain in the article, the responsibility for showing a reliable source for that description is on you. I'm planning to remove it again in a bit, but I'll wait to see whether you can find a source. I've looked and been unable to find any. Faceless Enemy (talk) 17:49, 12 December 2015 (UTC)


 * Although I have reinserted, I am not the original inserter of the text. I don't know why you feel gun violence is a right, but you are correct that the text should be cited and the original author did not do so.  I will leave out until one is found. EarlyNews (talk) 20:07, 4 January 2016 (UTC)

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Updates to Improve Article - June 14, 2022
Hello! I have a few suggested proposals to help improve the quality of the article.

I have a conflict of interest - I currently work for the Giffords Law Center, and didn’t want to edit the article directly. My proposals include corrections, replacing primary sources, and providing reliable sources.

Is it possible to get an independent review of the requests below?

1. Please replace the first paragraph of the lead:

From:

“The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence (Giffords Law Center)....”

To:

Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence is an American public interest law center and nonprofit organization led by former US Congresswoman Gabby Giffords focused on gun policy and safety. The organization has promoted gun safety legislation in the United States and conducted litigation against the gun industry. It also offers legal assistance to public officials, and publishes research on gun laws and gun violence. Giffords Law Center was formed when the Legal Community Against Violence (LCAV) merged with Giffords’ Americans for Responsible Solutions in 2016.

Explanation: Rewrites for structure and concision, and to remove “The” from the name of the organization, as it’s not part of the name. Removes abbreviation LCPGV; the organization does not use an acronym, and is not abbreviated in the press. The Manual of Style says: Manual_of_Style. Adds that the organization was founded by former Congresswoman Giffords, and clarifies that the organization specializes in gun safety legislation and litigation against the gun industry. Removes reference the organization opposes firearm ownership, as the statement is unsupported by sources and is untrue. . Removes language (e.g. “elected officials, government attorneys and activists”) unsupported by the sources. Updates internal Wikipedia hyperlink to U.S. gun policy. Adds reliable sourcing.

2. In the History section, please replace the first paragraph:

From: “LCPGV was established in the wake of a shooting attack on a law firm in downtown San Francisco on July 1, 1993. A gunman armed with several weapons, including a semi-automatic pistol, shot 14 people at the law firm of Pettit and Martin at 101 California Street in San Francisco before turning a gun on himself. In response, Bay Area lawyers established LCPGV. ”

To:

LCAV was established in the wake of the July 1,1993 101 California Street shooting, during which a gunman entered the offices of law firm Petit & Martin and shot fourteen people, killing eight. Former Petit & Martin partners John Heisse and Chuck Erlich formed the nonprofit organization shortly after the shooting to help local communities pass their own gun control ordinances.

Explanation: Removes LCPGV - an acronym that is not used in the sources. Manual_of_Style. Removes extraneous details about the 101 California Street shooting. Adds information about the founders of LCAV and why the organization was formed, with reliable sources. Adds missing reliable sourcing. Rewrites paragraph for grammar and concision.

3. In the History sentence, please replace the first sentence of the second paragraph: From: “LCPGV started in 1993 by focusing on the local regulation of firearms in California, adopting a "local ordinance project" that successfully promoted the adoption of local gun laws in many municipalities.

To: Initially focusing on the local regulation of firearms in California, LCAV supported the passage of the Brady Bill and the national assault weapons ban in 1993. The organization’s volunteer lawyers provided legal consultation to the city of West Hollywood when it was sued by the National Rifle Association in January 1996 for banning Saturday Night Special handguns. The lawsuit was dismissed in November 1996.

Explanation: Removes LCPGV - an acronym that is not used by the organization. Manual_of_Style. Removes the first sentence for redundancy. Expands on history and LCAV’s role in the Brady Bill, assault weapons and Saturday Night Specials ban. Adds reliable sourcing.

4. In the History section, please remove the third and fourth paragraphs:

“In 2001, LCPGV launched a website to provide access to detailed gun law and policy-related materials such as summaries of federal, state and local firearms laws; detailed discussion of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; summaries of firearm-related policies; research and analysis on firearms law and policy; amicus curiae briefs filed in firearm-related litigation; and model legislation for states and localities. The website, also called the Firearms Law Center, was designed to aid local efforts to adopt new gun control ordinances.

“With the launch of the site, LCPGV formally began offering legal support to activists and officials across the country. LCPGV launched a membership program to strengthen the legal community’s role in helping to promote gun control and continues to publish comprehensive reports and analyses of gun violence. Following the landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases District of Columbia v. Heller and McDonald v. Chicago, which ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to possess a firearm for lawful purposes, LCPGV has become increasingly involved in Second Amendment litigation and tracks cases raising Second Amendment claims.

Explanation: Source for the first of these paragraphs is a violation of WP: PRIMARY because it requires analysis and interpretation as to what is important on the website. Statement that the organization launched a website in 2001 is incorrect, it always had a website. Description of website could be seen as WP:PROMOTIONAL without a reliable source.

In the second of these paragraphs, the sentences are unsourced; it is also false that “LCPGV formally began offering legal support” in 2001 – as explained and reliably sourced in Request # 2, LCAV began offering legal services in 1993.. I could not find a secondary source that supported the statement that Law Center has a membership program; they do not have a membership program listed on their website. The last sentence source is a violation of WP:PRIMARY as it requires significant interpretation and analysis of content from the website of the subject of the article.

5. Please replace the last paragraph of the History section:

From:

“In 2016, the organization merged with Americans for Responsible Solutions, led by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly. In 2017, the organization changed its name to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.”

To:

In 2016, Legal Community Against Violence merged with Americans for Responsible Solutions, led by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and Navy combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut Captain Mark Kelly. The organization changed its name to Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in 2017.

Explanation: Adds reliable sources to unsourced statements and slightly rewrites for clarity and structure.

6. Please add the following to the end of the History section: In 2019, Giffords Law Center sued the Federal Election Commission, alleging the regulatory agency failed to take action against the National Rifle Association for alleged campaign finance violations. The lawsuit, filed by Giffords and the Campaign Legal Center, states the FEC did not respond to multiple complaints accusing the NRA of using shell organizations to donate more than the legal amount to the campaigns of President Trump and six Republican Senate candidates. In response, the NRA stated “This latest effort by Giffords and the Campaign Legal Center is a frivolous lawsuit based on a frivolous complaint.”

When the FEC did not take action, the Giffords Law Center filed a federal lawsuit directly against the National Rifle Association in November 2021.

Explanation: Updates the article with lawsuits receiving substantial coverage by high-quality publications.

7. In the “Reports and state rankings” subsection, please replace this paragraph:

From: The center releases an annual gun-law scorecard for individual states. The center has argued that "its research shows that states with stronger gun laws suffer fewer gun deaths." To: Giffords Law Center provides comparisons of state gun laws online, and annually releases the Gun Law Scorecard, a report that ranks and measures individual states’ gun death rates in correlation to their gun laws. According to the organization, its research shows there are fewer gun deaths in states with strict gun laws.

Explanation: Rewrites the paragraph for clarity and structure. Provides details and explanation of the annual scorecard as covered by high-quality publications.

8. In the infobox, please update the logo. This logo is newer:

GiffordsLC Logo Primary RGB (1).png

Thank you. Brooklyn1576 (talk) 17:58, 14 June 2022 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your review of this request edit proposal. I have one request: in the first sentence of the introduction, can you change "conducted litigation" to "has conducted litigation" or "conducts litigation" as this is an ongoing activity of the organization. Since everything else is answered, I think you can also mark the request edit as "request edit|Yes" to close it, based on what I see on other Talk pages.  Many thanks!Brooklyn1576 (talk) 16:58, 15 September 2022 (UTC)