User:Mattmgc/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * Name of article:
 * Gun Law History in the United States and Second Amendment Rights
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.
 * Article explains the evolution of gun control laws in America, beginning with the first General Assembly of Virginia. This Article is important to understanding origins of Virginia Gun Control.

Lead
"The article discusses the historical aspects of firearm (gun) laws in America in relation to the legal rights that are protected by the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment as of 2017. Gun law-related cases such as District of Columbia v. Heller are addressed, along with the laws governing the carrying of firearms in schools and prohibitions on the possession of guns by felons and mentally ill people. A 1619 gun control law from the first General Assembly of Virginia is assessed."


 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Yes, it does in the first sentence
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * Yes, it explains the different sections
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * No, it does not
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?
 * No, its concise

Content

 * Guiding question


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Yes it is
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * The article was written in 2017 and is about historical Gun Control changes
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
 * No

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Yes
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * No
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * I don't think so
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?
 * Yes, that gun laws are not a recent phenomena and have been passed before in the not-so-recent past

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Yes, the piece refers to supreme court cases and other legal precedent
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * Yes
 * Are the sources current?
 * The sources are historical, so no. However, they give a background on the subject matter of Gun Control legislation
 * Check a few links. Do they work?
 * Yes

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Yes, it's very well written
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * No
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?
 * Yes

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * Yes, there are graphs and tables that detail states by they history of gun control legislation
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Yes
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * Yes
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?
 * Yes

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * Talk about current Virginia Gun Laws in coordination with the National Fire Arms Act. i.e. SBR's and suppressors
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * Yes, WikiLaws, WikiVirginia, and WikiGuns
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * They cover the peripheral issues to Virginia Gun Control laws but not the source

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * Well done
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * Though the argumentation of the article is biased, the source material is not
 * How can the article be improved?
 * Its very well researched but I wish it gave a better counter opinion for those argument against the national history of gun control
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?
 * Well-developed

Optional activity

 * Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

with four tildes — ~


 * Link to feedback: