Fact-Checking Policy

Last updated April 2026 · By Nick Hall, USA Gun Shop’s lead reviewer and fact-check lead

USA Gun Shop publishes editorial content covering firearms reviews, ammunition guides, state and federal gun laws, and ongoing news in the firearms industry. Much of this content is YMYL (“Your Money or Your Life”): the rules our readers act on can determine whether a transaction is lawful, whether a defensive shooting is justified, or whether a permit application succeeds. Getting the facts right matters.

This page documents how we fact-check our content, the source hierarchy we follow, the cadence at which we re-verify claims, and the corrective process we use when we find an error. We hold ourselves to the standard we’d want from a publication our family relied on for a CCW question or an FFL transfer.

What We Fact-Check

Before any post is published or substantively updated, every specific claim a reader could act on is verified against a primary source. Specifically, we fact-check:

• Statute citations. Every state and federal statute we cite (e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), Tex. Penal Code § 9.32, S.C. Code § 16-11-440, NMSA 30-7-7.1) is verified against the official state legislature or government source. We cite the specific subsection where the rule actually lives.
• Court rulings. Cases like NYSRPA v. Bruen (2022), U.S. v. Rahimi (2024), Beeler v. Long (Sixth Cir. 2024), and Ortega v. Grisham (Tenth Cir. 2025) are verified against the published opinion. We link to the official court reporter or PACER docket where available.
• Effective dates. When we cite the effective date of a statute or amendment, we verify against the bill text and signing record. If a law has an injunction or pending appellate review, we note the current enforcement status.
• Firearm specs. Caliber, action, weight, barrel length, magazine capacity, MSRP, model year. Verified against manufacturer official specs (smith-wesson.com, sig.com, glock.com, etc.).
• Ammunition data. Grain weight, velocity, ballistic coefficient, muzzle energy. Verified against manufacturer published ballistics tables and (for primary load data) trade-press testing.
• Retail prices. Current pricing at major retailers (Midway, Brownells, PSA, Cabela’s) verified at publish time. Volatility-tagged for re-verification (see below).
• FFL dealer details. Names, addresses, phone numbers, hours of operation, current operational status. Verified via Google Places, dealer websites, and direct contact for our store-by-state guides.
• Permit and license details. Age requirements, training hours, fees, validity periods, reciprocity status. Verified against the issuing state agency (DPS, AG’s office, BCI, SLED, etc.).

Our Primary-Source Hierarchy

We verify every specific claim against a primary source, working through this hierarchy and stopping at the highest-quality match available:

1. State legislature / statute website. The most authoritative source for state law (legis.state.xx.us, official state code sites, legislative bill trackers).
2. State Attorney General opinion or website. When a statute is ambiguous, the AG’s office often publishes guidance that becomes the de facto enforcement standard.
3. Federal regulations. ATF (atf.gov firearms), FBI NICS (fbi.gov/nics), federal firearms register, federal court opinions on PACER.
4. Manufacturer official specs. Smith-wesson.com, sig.com, glock.com, springfieldarmory.com, ruger.com, and similar OEM websites for firearm specifications and MSRPs.
5. Authorized dealer retail page. Major retailer product pages (Midway USA, Brownells, Palmetto State Armory, Cabela’s) for current retail pricing and availability.
6. Licensed FFL dealer’s own website. For local-store details in our store-by-state guides.
7. Google Places verified listing. For FFL operational status and contact information.
8. Trade press for historical claims. Guns.com, The Firearm Blog, American Rifleman, NSSF for industry history and trend reporting where primary sources don’t exist.

We never use competitor review sites, affiliate aggregators, or unsourced industry blogs as a primary source for any factual claim. If we cite trade press, we link to the original article and note any limitations of the source.

Cross-Reference Rule

Every specific numeric claim that affects reader decisions (statute citations, magazine capacity limits, training hours, fees, retail prices, model specs) is verified in at least two independent primary sources. If a claim appears in only one source, we either note its single-sourcing or hold the claim out of the article entirely.

Specific examples of how the cross-reference rule applies:

• A Florida CCW fee citation must match both the Fla. Stat. § 790.06 statute and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ published fee schedule.
• A Glock 19 magazine capacity claim must match both Glock’s published specs and a current authorized-dealer listing.
• A Tennessee constitutional carry effective date must match both HB 2671’s legislative record and the Governor’s signing statement.

Volatility Tagging and Re-Verification Cadence

Different categories of claims have different shelf lives. We tag every fact-checked claim by volatility and schedule re-verification accordingly:

Volatility	Examples	Re-Verify Cadence
HIGH	Retail prices, in-stock status, promo codes, pending magazine cap legislation, ERPO order rules under active litigation	At publish + every 30 days
MEDIUM	Manufacturer specs, MSRP, state reciprocity lists, license requirements, training hour requirements	At publish + every 90 days
LOW	Historical events, company founding dates, fundamental federal law (GCA, NFA, Brady Act), case-law foundations (Heller, Bruen)	At publish only (until amendment)

HIGH-volatility content (gun deal posts, news, pricing roundups) is reviewed monthly. MEDIUM-volatility content (state law guides, gun reviews, ammo guides) is reviewed quarterly. LOW-volatility content (historical pieces, federal law explainers) is reviewed annually or when triggered by amendment.

Any time a state amends a relevant statute, a federal court rules on a relevant question, or a manufacturer announces a recall or material change, the affected articles are reviewed and updated within 14 days regardless of regular cadence.

Hallucination and Fabrication Audit

We use AI tools as part of our research process. AI is excellent at summarizing existing primary sources and identifying patterns across large bodies of statute. It is not a primary source itself, and AI tools sometimes generate confident-sounding text that doesn’t correspond to reality. Every article we publish goes through a hallucination audit specifically to catch fabrications:

• Specific numeric stats. “Over 50,000 rounds tested,” “0.25 MOA guaranteed,” “3% misfire rate.” Every specific number gets a primary-source check or gets removed.
• Attributed quotes. Quotes attributed to manufacturers, ATF officials, state attorneys general, or trade press require a verifiable source. Quotes that can’t be sourced are removed.
• Specific historical events. “First adopted in 1975,” “ATF ruling in 2018,” etc. Verified against the historical record or removed.
• “Certifications” claims. “NRA certified,” “DOJ approved,” “ATF endorsed.” These phrases are frequently fabricated by AI. We verify directly with the issuing organization or remove.
• Store operational status. For our store-by-state guides, every named dealer is verified as currently operational via Google Places + the dealer’s own website. Closed or relocated stores are updated or removed.
• Model variants. AI sometimes invents firearm model variants that were never produced. Every model-and-variant combination gets verified against manufacturer historical records.

URL and Link-Rot Check

Every external link in every published article is HEAD-checked at publish time and on the regular re-verification cadence above. Broken authoritative links (state legislature URLs, ATF pages, manufacturer specs) are flagged as YMYL emergencies and replaced within 48 hours.

301-redirect chains are updated to the final destination URL. Slow-loading authoritative sources are noted but generally retained. Dead non-authoritative sources are replaced or the citation is removed.

Editorial Independence and Conflict-of-Interest

Our fact-checking process is independent of our advertising and affiliate-revenue functions. We disclose affiliate relationships clearly on every applicable page (see our Affiliate Disclosure). We do not soften factual statements, omit unflattering specs, or modify product scores in response to advertiser pressure. We do not accept paid review samples in exchange for predetermined coverage.

If a manufacturer provides a review sample, we disclose this explicitly in the article and apply the same hands-on testing protocol we apply to retail-purchased samples (see our How We Test and Review Gear page for details).

Our editorial standards align with the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics and the FTC’s Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255). We follow these as the floor, not the ceiling.

When We Get It Wrong

Despite this process, we sometimes get things wrong. When we do, we correct the error promptly and transparently. Our Corrections Policy documents how we accept correction requests, how quickly we update, and how we mark corrected articles for transparency.

If you find an error in any USA Gun Shop article, please contact us with the article URL, the specific claim, and (if possible) the primary source that contradicts it. We take corrections seriously and treat them as a positive contribution to the editorial quality of the site.

Our Authors and Reviewers

USA Gun Shop’s primary author and reviewer is Nick Hall, a CCW instructor and lifelong shooter who founded the site in 2017. Nick personally reviews every published article on legal and reference content (state law guides, federal law explainers, statute citations) for technical accuracy.

Hands-on gun reviews and ammunition testing involve a small team of contributors who follow the testing protocol on our How We Test and Review Gear page. The team has 20+ years combined experience in firearms, hunting, and competitive shooting.

Reach Us

Editorial questions, fact-check disputes, and correction requests: see our Contact page for the appropriate email channel. We reply to fact-check inquiries within three business days and treat them as priority editorial work.

For broader context on how we approach editorial decisions, see our Editorial Policy. For our hands-on testing methodology, see How We Test and Review Gear. For our affiliate revenue model, see Affiliate Disclosure and How We Make Money. For broader transparency commitments, see Why Trust USA Gun Shop and About Us.