Wikipedia:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Gun control/Workshop

Main case page (Talk) — Evidence (Talk) — Workshop (Talk) — Proposed decision (Talk)

Case clerk: TBD Drafting arbitrator: TBD

The purpose of the workshop is for the parties to the case, other interested members of the community, and members of the Arbitration Committee to post proposed components of the final decisions for review and comment. Proposals may include proposed general principles, findings of fact, remedies, and enforcement provisions, which are the four types of proposals that can be included in the final decision. The workshop also includes a section (at the page-bottom) for analysis of the /Evidence, and for general discussion of the case.

Any user may edit this workshop page. Please sign all suggestions and comments. Arbitrators will place proposed items they believe should be part of the final decision on the /Proposed decision page, which only Arbitrators and clerks may edit, for voting, clarification as well as implementation purposes.

Motions and requests by the parties

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Proposed temporary injunctions

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Questions to the parties

Arbitrators may ask questions of the parties in this section.

Proposed final decision

Proposals by Robert McClenon

Proposed principles

Purpose of Wikipedia

The purpose of Wikipedia is to create a high-quality, free-content encyclopedia in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual respect among contributors. Use of the site for other purposes, such as advocacy or propaganda, furtherance of outside conflicts, or publishing or promoting original research is prohibited. Contributors whose actions are detrimental to that goal may be asked to refrain from them, even when these actions are undertaken in good faith.

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The beginning is a motherhood-and-apple-pie statement, the end is too vague and broad reaching to specifically comment on. North8000 (talk) 22:16, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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Decorum

Wikipedia users are expected to behave reasonably, calmly, and courteously in their interactions with other users; to approach even difficult situations in a dignified fashion and with a constructive and collaborative outlook; and to avoid acting in a manner that brings the project into disrepute. In content disputes, editors should comment on the content and not the contributor. Personalising content disputes disrupts the consensus-building process on which Wikipedia depends. Unseemly conduct, such as personal attacks, incivility and assumptions of bad faith, is prohibited.

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Agree, and this is very relevant here. North8000 (talk) 21:37, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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Controversial Issues

It is both difficult and necessary to provide neutral point of view encyclopedic coverage to controversial issues. For that reason it is even more important than on less controversial issues that editors respect each other and the rules of civility and work collaboratively. This mandate especially applies to editors who have strongly held views on issues.

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Agree, and this is very relevant here. North8000 (talk) 21:38, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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Battlegrounds and bad blood

Wikipedia is not a battleground. Consequently, it is a not a venue for the furtherance of grudges and personal disputes. A history of bad blood, poor interactions and heated altercations between users can complicate attempts to reach consensus. Inflammatory accusations perpetuate disputes, poison the well of existing discussions, and disrupt the editing atmosphere.

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Agree, but the "history of bad blood" this is a very small component. As far as I can tell, the only "history of bad blood" driven component is Geothean vs. others,. For AndyTheGrump it seems to be driven more by that merely their being their "style". North8000 (talk) 11:36, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

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Scope of ArbCom Proceedings

The Arbitration Committee does not, as a matter of policy and mission, decide good-faith article content disputes. However, when user conduct makes the resolution of content disputes difficult or impossible, the Arbitration Committee may impose appropriate remedies.

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Good principle, but not very relevant here. Goethean and AndyTheGrump's behavior has certainly harmed the efforts by those on both sides to resolve and move forward, but it has not roadblocked it.North8000 (talk) 21:47, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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Evidence in ArbCom Cases

Evidence presented to the Arbitration Committee in support of full evidentiary cases should be relevant to the topic of the case, as stated by the filing party or parties or as modified by the ArbCom in accepting the case. Evidence that is not relevant to the case being considered (but may be unrelated allegations of misconduct by a party to the case) may be ignored by the ArbCom, or may be considered by the ArbCom in its sole discretion. Such evidence should be presented in appropriate forums instead, such as arbitration enforcement in the case of articles subject to discretionary sanctions, or a user conduct Request for Comments for an alleged pattern of abuse.

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Agree. And going beyond that, the off topic material here by Goethean and Hippocrite has been so over the top, off topic, and where the evidence (if looked at closely) doesn't support and usually refutes the related accusation that it itself is abuse of process and abuse of editors which would be acted upon. North8000 (talk) 21:51, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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Proposed findings of fact

Locus of dispute

The focus of this dispute is the article on gun control, which is a controversial topic in the United States and elsewhere.

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Agree. North8000 (talk) 21:35, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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I would expand that to say "The focus of this dispute is the article on gun control – which is a controversial topic in the United States and elsewhere – and in particular the paragraph or section of that article dealing with Nazi Germany." Scolaire (talk) 09:45, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Gaijin42

Gaijin42 engaged in personal attacks.

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Absolutely baseless. North8000 (talk) 22:18, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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Gaijin42 engaged in edit-warring.

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Disagree. Gaijin42 conducts themself very well in this respect. North8000 (talk) 21:53, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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Gaijin42 engaged in blatant forum shopping. When attempts to insert controversial material into gun control were reverted, he or she posted a request for comments. When the RFC was running against the proposed material, he or she then opened a noticeboard thread, seeking sanctions against those opposing the controversial language. Following the lack of consensus on the noticeboard, this Request for Arbitration was opened requesting that the Arbcom sanction those opposed to the controversial language.

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Strongly disagree. These are the proper forums, and I've seen Gaijin42 to always try to use the proper forums and approaches. North8000 (talk) 21:55, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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Nonsense. When attempts to remove controversial material from Gun control were reverted by Gaijin42 he did repeatedly restore it. However, the RfC appeared (to me) to be running in favor of having the material somewhere in the article (perhaps back in "Arguments"), and the requested sanctions on acting on a misinterpretation of the result of the RfC seem quite appropriate. — Arthur Rubin (talk) 23:42, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Gaijin42 has sought to abuse the Wikipedia dispute resolution system in order to bully other parties into accepting the addition of controversial material. See above on forum-shopping for the details.

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Baseless. "Bullying" is the exact opposite of Gaijin42's approach. North8000 (talk) 21:56, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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I can't agree or disagree with that, but Goethean's actions certainly fall into the category of Bullying. — Arthur Rubin (talk) 23:42, 20 January 2014 (UTC)

Tea Party Movement and Antagonism

Some of the parties to this case were also parties to the controversy over the Tea party movement article and related articles. The content issues over those articles are not related (or only very indirectly related) to this dispute. However, antagonism either resulting from that controversy or preceding that controversy (possibly reflecting ideological divisions in American politics) have spilled into the controversy over this article and related articles. Some of the evidence introduced in this arbitration case is unrelated to the dispute over gun control articles.

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There a many many different statements in this item. But it is unrelated to the TPM. North8000 (talk) 21:58, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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North8000

North8000 engaged in edit-warring over the subject of gun control.

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Absolutely not, and baseless. I have stayed miles away from edit warring. And to show how far-afield, mis-representative and and abusive someone is trying to take this, in the last 6 months, I have had a total of 11 edits on the article (including gnome edits and vandalism/test edit reversals), and a total of TWO edits (in 6 months) on the contested material! North8000 (talk) 22:19, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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Goethean

Goethean engaged in edit-warring over the subject of gun control.

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Goethean has used very aggressive editing to pursue their content objectives, they have probably not crossed 3RR because they are too clever for that. North8000 (talk) 22:00, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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AndyTheGrump

AndyTheGrump engaged in personal attacks.

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Questionable evidence presented against User:North8000

Hipocrite and Goethean have presented evidence against North8000 that is not related to Gun control but is applicable either to the controversy over the Tea party movement or other older disputes.

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That's putting it far too mildly. Even calling it "evidence" is being too charitable. North8000 (talk) 22:22, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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Proposed remedies

Note: All remedies that refer to a period of time, for example to a ban of X months or a revert parole of Y months, are to run concurrently unless otherwise stated.

Discretionary Sanctions

Articles concerning gun control, broadly defined, are placed under standard Discretionary sanctions.

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Gaijin42 Topic-Banned

For personal attacks, harassment, and edit-warring, Gaijin42 is topic-banned from the subject of gun control, broadly defined, for a period of twelve months. This period shall be reset following any violations.

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• Strongly disagree. Of all the named parties, Gaijin has been the most collaborative and the one most likely to succeed in moving the the discussion forward. To ban him would be to shoot ourselves in the foot. Scolaire (talk) 10:01, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Gaijin42 Strongly Admonished

Gaijin42 is strongly admonished to maintain decorum when editing controversial areas, and is warned that edit-warring and personal attacks may result in blocks for escalating periods of time.

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North8000 Topic-Banned

For personal attacks, harassment, and edit-warring, North8000 is topic-banned from the subject of gun control, broadly defined, for a period of six months. This period shall be reset following any violations.

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Absolutely baseless. I have behaved VERY well at the article and have done ZERO of those things, and NONE have been presented in evidence! North8000 (talk) 22:04, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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• Disagree. The evidence of disruptive behaviour on this article has not been strong. As long as goethean abides by ArbCom's decisions, he has an important contribution to make to the discussion. Scolaire (talk) 10:01, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

North8000 Strongly Admonished

North8000 is strongly admonished to maintain decorum when editing controversial areas, and is warned that edit-warring and personal attacks may result in blocks for escalating periods of time.

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Absolutely baseless. I have behaved VERY well at the article and have done ZERO of those things, and NONE have been presented in evidence! North8000 (talk) 22:04, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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AndyTheGrump Strongly Admonished

AndyTheGrump is strongly admonished to maintain decorum when engaged in disputes, and is warned that personal attacks may result in blocks for escalating periods of time.

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Goethean Topic-Banned

For personal attacks and edit-warring, Goethean is topic-banned from the subject of gun control, broadly defined, for a period of three months. This period shall be reset following any violations.

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• Disagree. As long as goethean abides by ArbCom's decisions, he has an important contribution to make to the discussion. As one of the two main gun control advocates on the article, to ban him would severely reduce the chance of achieving a neutral point of view. Scolaire (talk) 10:01, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Hipocrite and Goethean Strongly Cautioned

Hipocrite and Goethean are strongly cautioned that the posting of irrelevant evidence in a topic-oriented dispute is a misuse of the arbitration process that may boomerang by the imposition of interaction bans. They are advised that any evidence of misconduct that is within the scope of existing discretionary sanctions may be presented in arbitration enforcement within the applicable case, and that evidence of an alleged systematic pattern of misconduct is appropriate for a user conduct Request for Comments, but not in an unrelated case.

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This is a softball, far too mild for the abuse of editors and abuse of process that they did here. North8000 (talk) 22:14, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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Modified Interaction Ban Between Goethean and North8000

Goethean and North8000 are prohibited from interacting with each other indefinitely, subject to ordinary exceptions and special exceptions as defined in this order. In particular, each restricted editor is permitted to prepare a user conduct RFC against the other and to participate in ArbCom cases within the scope of those cases as opened by the ArbCom (but not beyond the scope of those cases).

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The purpose of this ban is to permit each restricted editor to engage in defined formal dispute resolution procedures, but to impose sanctions if their hostility spills into other forums. Robert McClenon (talk) 23:21, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

I have thought of requesting this myself. But as having repeatedly extended an olive branch, the minute they stop attacking me, the grief is over, so only a one way interaction bad would do the trick, and the reverse one would be used by some to imply that there was a reason for it. North8000 (talk) 22:07, 26 January 2014 (UTC) North8000 (talk) 22:05, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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There's no evidence that North8000 has engaged in incivility or hounding to necessitate a ban on him. Goethean, and I will provide the diffs, has engaged in incivility to North8000 on Tea Party movement and on Gun control. But to his credit, North8000 doesn't engage it. It doesn't appear there's a need for a two-way interaction ban. Malke 2010 (talk) 22:45, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

• Disagree with all interaction bans. The problems on this article will only be resolved by all parties talking to each other. Scolaire (talk) 10:01, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Modified Interaction Ban Between Hipocrite and North8000

Hipocrite and North8000 are prohibited from interacting with each other indefinitely, subject to ordinary exceptions and special exceptions as defined in this order. In particular, each restricted editor is permitted to prepare a user conduct RFC against the other and to participate in ArbCom cases within the scope of those cases as opened by the ArbCom (but not beyond the scope of those cases).

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The purpose of this ban is to permit each restricted editor to engage in defined formal dispute resolution procedures, but to impose sanctions if their hostility spills into other forums. Robert McClenon (talk) 23:22, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

As far as I remember, I've not interacted with Hipocrite (by that use name), there are just their mysterious & ridiculous attacks on the evidence page of this case and this user name disappears from activity for long periods of time anyway. So it would probably be useless. North8000 (talk) 22:11, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

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This comment by Hipocrite here suggests Hipocrite knows North8000. North8000 says he has no knowledge of this editor. After checking article histories where North8000 usually edits, and looking through both editors' contribs, there does not appear to be any crossing of paths. It doesn't seem then that an interaction ban is warranted. Malke 2010 (talk) 03:43, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

I wrote, and I quote "We might disagree about lots of things, but could you at least keep it civil here." I didn't imply we had crossed paths multiple times. I certainly imply that I know what North8000 stands for on lots of things - that's because he's made his personal POV abundantly clear through his multiple rounds of sanctioning. Hipocrite (talk) 13:00, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

In my ~40,000 diverse edits (many trying to help on contentions articles) I have had zero blocks and one sanction, the latter is the TPM article, where all of the active editors were essentially given a rest. And, in spirited debates, about 1/2 of the time I am on the opposite side of the folks with my real world POV because when put on our editor hats, the latter comes first. North8000 (talk) 13:06, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

I leave it to the esteemed arbitrators to determine if your personal POV across all topics (just today you've been pushing the belief that intelligent design is not fringe science) is uniquely obvious amongst participants. Hipocrite (talk) 13:15, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

That's an example. I'm an Darwinist & evolutionist, but I've been saying there that the article should not be written to bash the viewpoint which is opposite to mine, and also that a widely held belief that is opposition to mine is not wp:fringe. And you just stated the opposite of what I said regarding it in the more limited context of science, I said that IMHO it is fringe in the more limited context of science. North8000 (talk) 13:28, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

I think I'll merely say that your protestations ring false to me, and let the arbitrators figure it out based on the evidence of your editing. Hipocrite (talk) 14:25, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

• Disagree with all interaction bans. The problems on this article will only be resolved by all parties talking to each other. Scolaire (talk) 10:01, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

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Proposed principles

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Proposed findings of fact

The presence of the material in question is generally compliant with policy

1) The presence of the material in question as in from June 2013 until expanded January 3rd (e.g. the "Nazi disarmament..." section at [[1]]) is generally compliant with policy.

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IMHO yes. It is a significant (including in coverage in sources) sourced instance of the topic of the article, limited to straightforward history. North8000 (talk) 13:25, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

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I don't think the Arbs are going to "validate" one version or another of disputed content. They're more likely to focus on the behavior and tactics used by editors in the discussions which led to the current text. The idea is that if certain editors are being obstructive, tendentious, or dishonest in their use of sources, then removing those editors will lead to better, more policy-compliant content down the line. MastCell ^Talk 18:26, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

Well first, as a sidebar, the main discussion was about just one version of the content, and this pair of questions is about policy compliance of just that one version of content. Second, whether doing so was mistaken or not, it was brought here only for the content question/impasse, not behavioral questions. North8000 (talk) 19:15, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

• Disagree. This version fails WP:UNDUE because it takes the year 1938 to the exclusion of all the rest of gun control history in Germany, and it fails WP:NPOV because it suggests a link between gun control and the Holocaust without saying it it words, and of its very nature it allows only that one point of view to be presented. Scolaire (talk) 09:33, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Scolaire, thank you for that thoughtful post. Do you think that a "high plane/top levels of the pyramid" exchange between you and I here on this might be helpful in sorting this out? If so, my thought is that with respect to policy compliance wp:undue says to weight by coverage in sources, not by the standard that you imply. Also, inclusion of one item does not constitute exclusion of other items. On your second point, the standard that a straightforward fact may be excluded if one of the things suggested by it's mere presence is an arguable assertion seems like a very high bar and IMHO not policy. As a sidebar, until approx April-June 2013 there was coverage of that assertion (viewpoints in both directions) but it was removed by June 2013 and stayed out. During the brief "unlocking flurry" on January 3rd, some items went in but they have not been discussed. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 13:03, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Thank you for your offer, but no, I don't think a discussion between two editors would be appropriate at this stage of the arbitration process. The arbitrators need to make decisions, based on your stated position and mine, and everybody else's. Scolaire (talk) 14:57, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

The presence of the material in question is not generally compliant with policy

2) The presence of the material in question as in from June 2013 until expanded January 3rd (e.g. the "Nazi disarmament..." section at [[2]]) is not generally compliant with policy.

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• Agree, for the reasons given above. Scolaire (talk) 09:33, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Proposed remedies

Note: All remedies that refer to a period of time, for example to a ban of X months or a revert parole of Y months, are to run concurrently unless otherwise stated.

If FOF #1 is determined, leave the material in.

1) If FOF #1 is determined, leave the material in, with no significant reductions or deletions for at least 1 year.

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If FOF #2 is determined, remove the material

2) If FOF #2 is determined, remove the material and do not add any info on gun control in Nazi Germany for at least 1 year.

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• Agree. Scolaire (talk) 09:36, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

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Proposals by User:Scolaire

Proposed principles

Purpose of Wikipedia

1) The purpose of Wikipedia is to create a high-quality, free-content encyclopedia in an atmosphere of camaraderie and mutual respect among contributors. Use of the site for other purposes, such as advocacy or propaganda, furtherance of outside conflicts, publishing or promoting original research, and political or ideological struggle, is prohibited.

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Conduct and decorum

2) Wikipedia users are expected to behave reasonably, calmly, and courteously in their interactions with other users; to approach even difficult situations in a dignified fashion and with a constructive and collaborative outlook; and to avoid acting in a manner that brings the project into disrepute. Unseemly conduct, such as personal attacks, incivility, assumptions of bad faith, harassment, disruptive point-making, and gaming the system, is prohibited.

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Support And this is relevant here, but only for a small portion of the interactions. Most editors on both "sides" have interacted well. North8000 (talk) 15:52, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

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Wikipedia editorial process

3) Wikipedia works by building consensus through the use of polite discussion—involving the wider community, if necessary—and dispute resolution, rather than through disruptive editing. Editors are each responsible for noticing when a debate is escalating into an edit war, and for helping the debate move to better approaches by discussing their differences rationally. Edit-warring, whether by reversion or otherwise, is prohibited; this is so even when the disputed content is clearly problematic, with certain narrow exceptions.

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Purpose and role of the Arbitration Committee

4) The occurrence of protracted, apparently insoluble disputes—whether they involve conduct, content, or policy—is contrary to the purposes of the project and damaging to its health. The chief purpose of the Arbitration Committee is to protect the project from the disruption caused by such disputes, and it has the authority to issue binding resolutions in keeping with that purpose.

The Committee has traditionally concentrated its attention on conduct disputes, and has avoided issuing binding rulings that would directly resolve matters of content or policy, leaving those questions to the community at large. However, in cases where the community has proven unable to resolve those questions using the methods normally available to it, and where the lack of resolution results in unacceptable disruption to the project, the Committee may impose an exceptional method for reaching a decision.

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Support And that is the reason it was brought here. North8000 (talk) 15:49, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

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The Holocaust

5) The Holocaust was a unique event in human history. In such a sensitive matter it is essential to ensure that its history is not misused, even inadvertently and in good faith, in articles on unrelated topics.

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@Scolaire: Are you saying that the Arbs should develop special protection for this topic beyond what Wikipedia has available for any sensitive topic? Malke 2010 (talk) 19:20, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Proposed findings of fact

Locus and state of dispute

1) The dispute concerns material in the article article on gun control relating to claims that firearms regulation in Nazi Germany led to, or facilitated, the Holocaust. The dispute has been ongoing since at least April 2013 with no apparent resolution. It has recently spilled over into related articles, including Gun politics in the United States and Gun Control Act of 1968.

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Any "spillover" has involved a generally different set of editors. North8000 (talk) 15:59, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

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Proposed remedies

Note: All remedies that refer to a period of time, for example to a ban of X months or a revert parole of Y months, are to run concurrently unless otherwise stated.

Community asked to develop a procedure

1) The community is asked to open a new discussion for the purpose of obtaining agreement on a mechanism for assessing the consensus or majority view on whether and how this material should be used in Gun control and related articles. The purpose of this discussion shall be to develop reasonably agreed-upon procedures for resolving this issue, without further disputes or rancor as to the fairness of the procedures used. Editors are asked to approach this discussion with an open mind and without emphasis on prior discussions that failed to reach agreement.

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Comment by parties:

support Gaijin42 (talk) 15:39, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

support North8000 (talk) 15:44, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Comment Past RFCs have involved a false consensus: there is a group of politically conservative/anti-gun control editors who watch the gun control page or perhaps are canvassed off-wiki and who will approve any anti-gun control material which is suggested, no matter how poorly sourced or poorly worded. A true consensus would involve a different assortment of editors than the usual anti-gun control crowd. — goethean 16:22, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Comment by others:

Correct me if I'm reading this wrong, but that sounds like something that would have to be a moderated discussion with an admin willing to give the time. That was tried on Tea Party movement. It did help matters, and SilkTork did a good job with it. But you must remember, Wikipedia can be edited by anyone. And even if you had a super-majority that agreed to put X into an article and remove Y, anybody can come along and add Y back. You can't control content. You can only control behaviours with blocking/topic banning/site banning, etc. Malke 2010 (talk) 19:41, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Back-up procedure

2) If the discussion convened under the terms of Remedy #1 does not result in a reasonable degree of agreement on a procedure within 14 days, then the Arbitration Committee shall designate a panel of three uninvolved administrators to develop and supervise an appropriate procedure.

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supportGaijin42 (talk) 15:39, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

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Disputed content removed pending discussion

3) Until the procedures discussed in Remedy #1 (and, if necessary, Remedy #2) are implemented, the content under dispute shall be removed from Gun control and related articles. This does not constitute an expression of opinion on the content itself.

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oppose The content has been in the articles in some form since 2003. It is clearly the WP:STATUSQUO. Beyond that, once the content is removed, (some of the problematic) editors supporting the removal will have no incentive to collaborate or compromise. They can throw wrenches in the gears and claim that there is no consensus. the most problematic have repeatedly stated that the only acceptable answer is complete scrubbing of this information from all areas of wikipedia. Conversely the supporters of the information have shown repeated willingness to work on wording, placement, sourcing etc to find something mutually acceptable. Gaijin42 (talk) 15:39, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Oppose It was already stripped to bare bones historical information during April-June 2013 which could be seen as an informal compromise from that period. But possibly we should remove the January 3, 2014 changes pending further discussion, as they are not a part of the bare-bones long standing historical material. North8000 (talk) 15:47, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

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Binding resolution

4) Once the procedures discussed in Remedy #1 (and, if necessary, Remedy #2) are implemented, no further discussions relating to this content shall be initiated on any of these articles for a period of 2 years.

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weak support I would support more for 1 year, and would prefer an exception on discussion if there is any significant publication on the topic from new authors that may change the landscapeGaijin42 (talk) 15:39, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

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Discretionary sanctions

Articles concerning gun control, broadly defined, are placed under standard discretionary sanctions.

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Proposals by User:Hipocrite

Proposed findings of fact

Gaijin42's battlefield conduct

1) Gaijin42 (talk · contribs) has engaged in disruptive behavior, including edit warring [3], [4], [5], and comments that were incivil and reinforced a battleground mentality [6].

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Proposed remedies

Note: All remedies that refer to a period of time, for example to a ban of X months or a revert parole of Y months, are to run concurrently unless otherwise stated.

Gun Control topic bans

Scope of topic bans

Editors topic-banned by the Committee under this remedy are prohibited from (i) editing articles about Gun Control broadly construed and their talk pages; (ii) editing biographies of living people associated with Gun Control broadly construed and their talk pages; (iii) participating in any process broadly construed on Wikipedia particularly affecting these articles; and (iv) initiating or participating in any discussion substantially relating to these articles anywhere on Wikipedia, even if the discussion also involves another issue or issues.

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I would have to suggest that a topic ban, were one to be imposed, would have to be more clearly defined than as 'gun control', if for no other reason than that Gaijin42 (along with several other contributors) has a habit of getting into long-winded and contradictory disputes as to what exactly the term means - without of course providing any sources to back his arguments up. I would suggest that a topic-ban, were it to be imposed, should cover 'any topic involving the regulation of firearms, broadly construed', or something of the kind. AndyTheGrump (talk) 22:30, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

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Appeal of topic bans

Editors topic banned under this decision may apply to the Committee to have the topic ban lifted or modified after demonstrating their commitment to the goals of Wikipedia and their ability to work constructively with other editors. Applications will be considered no earlier than six months after the close of this case, and additional reviews will be done, unless the Committee directs otherwise in individual instances, no more frequently than every three months thereafter.

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Gaijin42 topic-banned

2) Gaijin42 is topic-banned from Gun Control, per (insert whatever section here)

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Analysis of evidence

Place here items of evidence (with diffs) and detailed analysis

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General discussion

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A minor point perhaps, but I note that Robert McClenon began submitting his 'Proposed final decision' long before the original cut-off date for the submission of evidence - on January 6th. [7] I would like to make it clear that I consider this less than ideal, and that perhaps it might be worth considering whether in future arbitration cases, such submissions are disallowed until such time as all the evidence is available. AndyTheGrump (talk) 22:21, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

There's no reason to create a Workshop page at the same time as the Evidence page if editors are not to be allowed to post in it. A workshop is only a workshop, and any proposals can be modified, reversed or removed if emerging evidence warrants it. Scolaire (talk) 10:08, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

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