View source for Engineering:Internet Movie Firearms Database

{{Short description|Online database of firearm appearances in films}}
{{Infobox website
| name            = Internet Movie Firearms Database
| logo            =
| logo_size       = 200px
| logocaption     = imfdb Logo
| screenshot      =
| collapsible     =
| collapsetext    =
| caption         =
| url             = {{URL|imfdb.org}}
| commercial      = No
| type            = [[Wiki]]
| registration    = Optional (required for editing)
| language        = English
| num_users       = 10,217<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Special:Statistics | title=IMFDb Statistics | date=2012-12-22 | publisher=imfdb.org | access-date=2012-12-22 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120701121804/http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Special:Statistics | archive-date=2012-07-01 | url-status=dead }}</ref>
| content_license = [[Software:GNU Free Documentation License|GNU Free Documentation License]]
| owner           = imfdb, LLC
| editor          = MelDez.MV
| launch_date     = {{Start date and age|2007|05|10|df=yes/no}}
| current_status  = Active
}}
The '''Internet Movie Firearms Database''' ('''IMFDb''') is an [[Online database|online database]] of [[Engineering:Firearm|firearm]]s used or featured in films, [[Engineering:Television show|television show]]s, [[Engineering:Video game|video game]]s, and anime. A [[Wiki|wiki]] running the [[Software:MediaWiki|MediaWiki]] software, it is similar in function (although unaffiliated) to the Internet Movie Database for the entertainment industry. It includes articles relating to actors, and some [[Social:Character (arts)|characters]], such as James Bond, listing the particular firearms they have been associated with in their movies. Integrated into the website is an image hosting section similar to [[Wikimedia Commons]] that includes firearm photos, manufacturer logos, screenshots and related art.<ref>{{cite web | first=Philip | last=Bourjaily | title=Bourjaily: The Internet Movie Firearms Database | url=http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun-nut/2009/04/bourjaily-internet-movie-firearms-database | date=15 April 2009 | access-date=14 June 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516202553/http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun-nut/2009/04/bourjaily-internet-movie-firearms-database | archive-date=2012-05-16 | url-status=live }}</ref>{{failed verification|date=June 2013}} The site has been cited in magazines such as the NRA's ''American Rifleman'' and ''True West Magazine'' and magazine format television shows such as ''Shooting USA'' on the Outdoor Channel.

== History ==
Launched in May 2007 by "Bunni",<ref>[http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Imfdb_:._guns_in_movies_:._movie_guns_:._the_internet_movie_firearms_database:About Imfdb:About] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121161741/http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Imfdb_:._guns_in_movies_:._movie_guns_:._the_internet_movie_firearms_database:About |date=2018-11-21 }} at the Internet Movie Firearms Database, retrieved 21 November 2018</ref> The Internet Movie Firearm Database (IMFDb) was originally set up to help identify the use of firearms in Hollywood films. For the first few months of its existence, it listed only a dozen films including ''The Matrix'', ''Platoon'' and ''Pulp Fiction''. As the site grew, so did its content. In June 2007, the site began to list television shows as well as films. The site has since been expanded to include pages for video games and anime.<ref>[http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Rules,_Standards_and_Principles#Moving_Visual_Media_Only.2C_no_books_or_Manga_allowed Rules, Standards and Principles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622110716/http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Rules,_Standards_and_Principles#Moving_Visual_Media_Only.2C_no_books_or_Manga_allowed#Moving_Visual_Media_Only.2C_no_books_or_Manga_allowed |date=2012-06-22 }} at the Internet Movie Firearms Database, retrieved 21 November 2018</ref>

As of June 2012, the data base had grown to list over 6,445 films,<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Category:Movie | title = Category: Movie | access-date = 8 June 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120622080555/http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Category:Movie | archive-date = 2012-06-22 | url-status = live }}</ref> over 1,925 television shows,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Category:Television| title = Category: Television| access-date = 8 June 2012| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120622111756/http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Category:Television| archive-date = 2012-06-22| url-status = live}}</ref> over 686 video games<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Category:Video_Game| title = Category: Video Game| access-date = 8 June 2012| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120603113300/http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Category:Video_Game| archive-date = 2012-06-03| url-status = live}}</ref> and 423 Anime films and series.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Category:Anime| title = Category: Anime| access-date = 8 June 2012| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120616034101/http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Category:Anime| archive-date = 2012-06-16| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=How guns get into films|newspaper=The Economist|date=19 October 2016|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2016/10/bang-your-buck|access-date=2017-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701133350/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2016/10/bang-your-buck|archive-date=2017-07-01|url-status=live}}</ref>

The site has been used as a reference source by the owners of several shooting ranges located in Las Vegas, Nevada. After hearing customers ask to rent certain types of firearms used in movies and video games, the owners of the range used IMFDb to research the weapons in question.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Guardian|title=Vegas gun ranges target thrill-seeking tourists with ever bigger weapons|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/30/las-vegas-machine-gun-shooting-ranges|date=30 November 2012|first=Daniel|last=Hernandez|quote=They even stock their arsenals through research on the Internet Movie Firearm Database, a website that lists guns appearances in media the way IMDB does actors.|access-date=7 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828060337/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/30/las-vegas-machine-gun-shooting-ranges|archive-date=2014-08-28|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Prohibitions==
===Exclusions===
One particular category of arms that is not intended to be a part of the database is fictional firearms. For example, weapons that are beyond current technology such as laser (as the projectile), plasma, and/or nuclear particle (i.e. photon, etc.) devices are typically not accepted by the contributors of the site. Often this category of ''fictional weapons'' is associated with video games and anime, but some movies (science fiction in particular) contain these as well. In these instances, the devices that represent actual firearms or hypothetical future evolution of current firearms are represented.

As the database primarily relates to small arms, categories of large destructive devices are excluded as well. One such example would be an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM).

No homemade films are permitted.<ref>{{cite web | title=IMFDb: Rules, Standards and Principles | url=http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Rules,_Standards_and_Principles#Professional_Titles_only.2C_no_User_created_Media | access-date=8 June 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622110716/http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Rules,_Standards_and_Principles#Professional_Titles_only.2C_no_User_created_Media#Professional_Titles_only.2C_no_User_created_Media | archive-date=2012-06-22 | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Exceptions===
Exceptions to the exclusions above are small arms that are fictional but constructed from real-life firearms (modified or original), even if the ''projectile'' is completely fictional. An example would be the blaster rifles from the ''Star Wars'' movies. These devices fire "bolts of energy" in the movies, and the firearm they are based on is the British-made Sterling sub-machine gun.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/Sterling_SMG/ |title=imfdb:Sterling SMG |access-date=2012-12-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225092047/http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/Sterling_SMG |archive-date=2011-02-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/Star_Wars#BlasTech_E-11_blaster_rifle_.28Sterling_L2A3.29/ |title=imfdb: Star Wars |access-date=2012-12-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223205904/http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/Star_Wars#BlasTech_E-11_blaster_rifle_.28Sterling_L2A3.29/#BlasTech_E-11_blaster_rifle_.28Sterling_L2A3.29/ |archive-date=2011-02-23 |url-status=live }}</ref> Another example would be the 1999 movie ''Wild Wild West'', in which a powered (as in, automatically revolving) Gatling gun is used, even though this was not realized until 1946—Gatling guns in the era in which the film is set were exclusively operated by hand crank.

== See also ==
* Stembridge Gun Rentals, the primary arsenal to Hollywood from the 1920s through 2007
*Internet Movie Cars Database - A website of similar concept for motor vehicles.

== References ==
{{Reflist|33em}}

== External links ==

[[Category:Firearms]]

{{Sourceattribution|Internet Movie Firearms Database}}