are people really this stupid

[wee-man]

By now some of you probably know that a 54-year-old inline skater named Gary Holdren is in extremely critical condition -- in a coma -- a day after he was knocked down in a hail of paintball rounds fired from a bluff in Orange County, CA. He suffered a severe head injury when falling and may die. He's in a coma. His family, his friends, are gathered around his home and hospital bed, braced for the worst.

Three youths are being sought in the attack that happened Sunday at 1:15 PM in Newport Beach on Backbay Drive below East Bluff Park, a route that winds around the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Preserve.

This is where we get really, really serious. This could have been you, or your father, possibly dying. It is very unlikely that the young people who did this thought they'd cause so much harm, but what they did was thoughtless and horrible beyond words. They must be held accountable. Chances are that some other S. California paintball players know who they are --and we ask your help, in the name of "what's right."

Anyone with information about the attack is asked to contact the Newport Beach Detectives at (800) 550-NBPD.

And let's all pray for the recovery of Mr. Holdren.

 

[wee-man]

Followup on "Orange County Man May Die from Paintball Attack".

The persons that committed this crime do not represent Paintball. This is simply a despicable criminal act carried out by individuals that are in no way "Paintball Players".

We as Paintball Players wish Mr. Holdren a complete and speedy recovery and his family and friends our support in this time of need.

With this in mind the Society of Paintball Players and Teams have established the “Gary Holdren Fund” to collect donations from Paintball Players to assist Mr. Holdren and his family with the mounting medical bills and lost wages. 100% of all deposits will be forwarded to Mr. Holden's family.

Please make check or money order contributions payable to "Gary Holdren Fund" and mail them to:

First Western Bank
Attn: Gary Holdren Fund
2722 W. Walnut
Rogers, AR 72756


A means to contribute to this fund via a secure credit card transaction will be established within the next few days and the link to this page will be announced at that time.

 

[TheRo0sTer]

Yes people are that stupid what was that guy thinking skating onto a paintball field? J/K I am not being insensitive either I just wanted to ease some tension this might cause amoungst us season'd P8ntballers.

It is kids that will be the end of paintball. They are not informed of the danger involved in random shootings. Also what was their motive behind it? I am sure when they are caught we'll find out! Hell I am guessing they come from a shallow gene pool!

 

[Stan]

I saw this news flash on pbreview (i think)...

A couple of people on there were raving and ranting about it but some people were making useful suggestions which i believe is the way to act when things like this happen.

The incident has happened and as long as something changes to significantly reduce the risk of this happening again(i'm not naive enough to say never) then *something* will have come out of this.

Some people were suggesting that marker sales should be more controlled and age limits put in place where there aren't any and ages raised in other areas. This is obviously, a serious step and if there aren't guidelines then there clearly should be.

One area that has concerned me recently though was the sale of paintball related gear on Auction sites such as Ebay. It wasn't until after i had sold it that i thought about who had bought my old SAM Patriot (stupid of me i know) as it turns out it's a rip off merchant who is now trying to sell it on!

However, there is stuff for sale on ebay that should have been thrown out in the trash years ago but is now being sold as respectable, usable gear... One such item is a pair of old, knackered, decrepid, flea-ridden (you get the picture?) JT goggles... Obviously, if someone uses them they could fail and a serious injury could follow!!! I believe that Evbay have a duty to auction paintball gear responsibly (however, i don't feel that i am the right person for the job!!! Bully - if you read this, hows about it?)

 

[Tortoise-Licker]

Can anybody tell me why whenever any crime happens that is paintball related, said crime is always commited wihin the States?

 

[SYTRAXZ]

well

Originally posted by Tortoise-Licker
Can anybody tell me why whenever any crime happens that is paintball related, said crime is always commited wihin the States?

the reason y they happen here in the states is that laws probably arnt as strict of here as they are in the uk. that and over here people are crazy.... one good exaple is the jerry springer show( a very good show i might add!) they used to be able to throw chairs at each other and stuff but they were asked to tone it down so the body guards stop them from fighting but on that show they have weird stuff like womanA is cheating on womanB with womanB's grandmother but in which the grandmother is scretly a stiper or a poledancer or some weird stuff. but now back to the subject of paintball. was this an outdoor feild or an indoor feild? was it roped off outside? and what would posses him to go there?? and y would some 54 year old dude be skating? was he like shot in the face or the back of the head? or did the kids just walk down the street and shoot him?

 

[Stan]

the reason y they happen here in the states is that laws probably arnt as strict of here as they are in the uk. that and over here people are crazy.... was this an outdoor feild or an indoor feild? was it roped off outside? and what would posses him to go there?? and y would some 54 year old dude be skating? was he like shot in the face or the back of the head? or did the kids just walk down the street and shoot him?

Get with the programme dude! The guy was out skating/blading (it has been known for 54 year olds to do exercise!)

Some kids popped up from a bluff and shot him to pieces. My take on the story id that due to the shock he fell and hit his head and is now in a coma.

Not good!

 

[OhhhNooo]

alaska

In anchorage alaska a couple of months a go kids ina car when down 4th avenue and shot Native Americans. This turned out to be a hate crime and lots of people were scarred for life. Many who were shot are afraid to go down 4th avenue.

for more go to www.adn.com

serch around and you'll find the articles

 

[Flash-Bugout]

In no way disrespecting the victim, or defending the criminals (and that's what I believe they are), but.......

Was Mr Holdren wearing the correct safety gear (ie helmet). In other words, if a small child had run out of a driveway in front of him, and he had swerved, fallen and hit his head, would he still be in the position he is?

While I would like to see some form of player and marker registration scheme, is it ever going to happen?

Not likely!

Most paintballers can't be bothered to do much to help out with the likes of promoting the sport, and add to that the fact that someone in each country would have to administer this database of players and markers, and I can see it never happening.

The only time paintballers would actually get off their behinds is when some little ^$*^£* goes into his local town centre and blinds some random bystander - by which time it's too late, as paintball would be banned within the month.

So next time out, the previously mentioned &$^*&^$ takes a catapult, or baseball/cricket bat.

But for now, we are stuck with the posibility that any random idiot can go into a store (and I've seen the beginnings here in the UK as well) and pick up a plastic pump for £60/$50/whatever. No, its not what most people on here would call paintball equipment, but it's still cabable of delivering an eye-remover.

Maybe a first step would be to require everyone who bought a marker to either purchase a set of goggles, or show some sort of card proving they have a set.

But then we get back to the problem of administering databases, plus that of forging cards, as well as controlling who sells paintball gear.

Sorry folks, but we are just gonna have to live with the fact that the equipment used in our sport or hobby of choice is going to be miss-used by a minority of idiots, who do not represent us.
What we need to do as responsible paintballers is ensure that we get distanced from these idiots as far as possible. Things such as this fund for Mr Holdren go some way towards this.

Can you tell I'm bored from my daft long posts today?

 

[jynxfactor]

Well being in Alaska I would like to say that the kids involved in the paintball drive by had never been seen playing at any of the fields here, ever! So wee-man you are absolutly right. I won't play with anyone who mistreats paintball guns and who act irisposobly with them ON OR OFF THE FIELD!

OhhhNooo: That is not really true. Yes it was termed a hate crime because all of the victoms were of a certain race, but, that was not the intention of the attacks. the kid responsible drove down the streets shooting intoxicated people. It just happend that all of the victoms were of the same race. When they were caught they admited to shooting "drunks" not Natives. After the tape was reviewd there was a large uproare from the Native population (do to racial tension in the area), this is what changed the nature of the attacks