Skip to content

Research Methodology

Primary Sources

Every legal claim on rigunlaws.com rests on a primary source, used in this order.

  1. Statutes. The enacted text of Rhode Island laws as published in the official compiled statutes. For federal questions, the United States Code (18 U.S.C. Chapter 44) and the Code of Federal Regulations (27 C.F.R. Part 478).
  2. Court opinions. Opinions from Rhode Island courts, the relevant federal circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. The procedural posture of a decision is checked before it is treated as settled law.
  3. Administrative rules and agency guidance. Promulgated regulations and official agency bulletins.
  4. Official agency publications. Application forms, official FAQs and guidance documents of the Rhode Island agency responsible.

News coverage is used only to learn that something may have changed. The primary source is always the authority cited.

How Changes Are Found

  • Pages of the Rhode Island legislature and the responsible agencies are checked for changes twice a day.
  • New court opinions and orders in Second Amendment cases are checked daily through CourtListener.
  • Every link to a source is checked daily.
  • Every statute citation is checked once a week and after every change to the site.
  • Reader corrections are read and checked against the primary source.

How Citations Are Checked

A script checks every statute citation in every article against the official text of the law. The script uses no AI. A citation to a section that does not exist is flagged for correction.

How Articles Are Read

Articles are read sentence by sentence against the official text of the law, starting with the most read pages. An AI model reads each sentence next to its source and records whether the law supports it. A second, independent AI model reviews every one of those verdicts before a correction is published. A sentence whose official source cannot be read stays as it is and is marked for a later check.

How Corrections Are Published

No correction is published until the fact has been confirmed again against the primary source. Every change is saved as a revision, so the full history of each article is kept.

Reporting an Error

To report an error, write to corrections@rigunlaws.com. Include the page address, the claim you believe is wrong and the primary source that contradicts it.