10yo boy possibly blinded in one eye by pball

[Sinner]

I just came across an article in today's (26/7/02) Daily Mail (a UK paper for our foreign brethren) that is a bit disquieting.

A 10-year old boy from Cantley, Doncaster (up north somewhere anyway) may lose an eye after being shot by a friend with a paintball marker. I get the impression that he was just playing in the street having bought a cheapo plastic pump.

His mother is, understandably enough, calling for a ban on these markers, which do come with goggles, but as she says "the kids don't bother wearing them."

OK, _we_ all know about safety, _we_ all know that this isn't really 'our' sort of paintball, but all Joe Public is going to read (especially the Blue Rinse Brigade that absorb the Daily Mail's rantings) is that a boy has been severely injured with a paintball.

I've just suffered a bit of a barracking about this from work colleagues who know that I'm a 'baller. I heard the same sort of knee-jerk reaction that caused the firearms ban in the UK, basically that "it's inherently dangerous and a niche hobby, not something required by society, so let's ban it to avoid such accidents or the possibility of nutters running amok."

Now, I try to explain my sport as best I can (until their eyes glaze over usually ) and I know I bore the hell out of my neighbors' kids by mentioning 'safety' more than 'shooting' when they ask about pball, but that's just on a local scale, I just can't see how we could possibly defend ourselves if the media really went into a feeding frenzy against us. I'm going to pray that we don't get another incident or two like this in the near future, 'cause that'll get the journos rolling.

I'm so depressed now I'm going to do some work.

 

[Hotpoint]

Guess I'll be buying a copy of the Daily Mail for the first time ever then

My first question would be that given that it's already illegal for a kid that age to buy an airgun where did it come from?

This is just what Paintball needs

 

[Chris - Nexus Eclipse]

that is a very good point.......where exactly did it come from.

and if the mother is saying that the kids never wear the goggles then im sure she is in the blame for letting her kid use it without them.................hmmmm

 

[Tortoise-Licker]

Does this answer your question's
follow me
The site who sold it should be held jointly responsible as there are no rules 'over 14's only'
I can see the kid watching X-fire on channel 4 and deciding he wants a marker so he can play war with his mates and then pesters his mother to buy him one.
Perhaps it might be time to implement a license scheme where you cannot buy a marker unless you have a license or a member of the ukpsf, before this gets out of hand and the media blitz's us.
We really need to show 'joe public' that us ballers are responsible adults (I know that there are some Under 16's who play but you are included so don't flame me )

 

[Hotpoint]

Originally posted by Tortoise-Licker

Perhaps it might be time to implement a license scheme where you cannot buy a marker unless you have a license or a member of the ukpsf, before this gets out of hand and the media blitz's us.

Well Bully is usually very busy himself but if the industry wants to adopt a policy of selling only to UKPSF members I would have no problem in agreeing to be the one who kept the Register of players and their markers on behalf of the Federation

Maybe I could get a Registration Website set up

Any thoughts from those in the business side of things?

 

[Sinner]

I'd be interested to see what the warning labels are like on the packaging this so-called toy came in.

To defend the parent, most toys you buy nowadays seem to have a telephone book of warnings attached and in many cases they seem to be just weasel words by the manufacturers' lawyers to protect them from any and all lawsuits upto and including invasion by aliens.

Do we really read all the warnings and caveats before buying or using a new product? I know I don't and I'd guess many/most others don't either.

The mother probably just saw her son hold up a toy gun in the store and just bought it for him thinking that it wasn't that much different than a water pistol, cap gun or rubber dart gun.

T/L: I don't think that the kid was at a site. It was a £7.99 plastic pump marker (probably firing those wierd little paintballs not .68), that can be found in a few superstores and big toy shops.

 

[Philip]

Home and bargain are selling them at the moment for £7.99

 

[guppy]

Its a good idea.

I think registration would be a great idea...better to set up/implement this ourselves rather than have some unviable scheme imposed upon is in the not too distant. But how could this be extended to regulate the sale of secondhand markers via e-bay/ local press classifieds etc? Also the type of 'paintguns' that are sold by Argos and 'BoysToys' type of mail order, which aren't manufactured by paintball companies: how could the ukpsf regulate the sale of these to kids? Presumably the companies marketing these as 'toys' wouldnt want their market restricted. A registration scheme would set us apart from this side of the market though and show that we are acting responsibly.

 

[Tortoise-Licker]

I've seen those Toy markers and we need sparlie on here as she is the expert on them. I think they chronoed one to about 100fps but I'm not sure .
The link is to what is technically a stock-class marker and i have also seen these for sale in shops. Star wars emporium used to sell them in norwich before they closed down. I was in there before they closed and there were kiddies eyeing up this so called marker saying they were going to get their dads to buy them one so they could play 'war' at home.

 

[Sinner]

Hotpoint:

Whilst only selling to UKPSF members is a good idea, wouldn't we run the risk of putting off new own-kit players?

Once they find out that there isn't a paintball shop they can go to in the nearest big city, they already loose enough enthusiasm to take the step up from renting kit. The old 'it's too much hassle, so I can't be bothered' syndrome. Add in the requirement that you must be a member of an official organisation and that'll cost us even more new players and the industry looses valuable sales.