Study Finds Paintball Injuries on Rise

[knobbs]

There are many people who have no option--the nearest field may be hours away. There are many people who play renegade who play it safely and follow all the rules. Whether they do it because it is cheaper or they have no field to play at, it is a viable option. Buying a marker should not require you to spend money at a field.

I don't think requiring a purchaser to be an adult is a bad idea. The youngsters can't buy them without the parents giving them the okay, which means the parents are (or should be) taking the responsibility for the youth having the marker. Adults are supposed to be responsible for thier own actions. If they misuse a marker, punish them.

 

[Steve Hancock]

Originally posted by Jon S
Maybe a solution would be for the wal-mart cheapo-plastic guns to come with velocity set at say, 100 fps (arbitary low setting). Velocity adjustment is locked, but can be taken off by a special tool distributed to field owners. I dont think it would be majorly practical, but it would discourage outlaw ball and lead people to fields where they are encouraged to play safely and properly. That way, people who are actually wanting to play can use their marker, and the irresponsible ones/vandals are left with a less dangerous marker.

Some "wal-mart cheapo-plastic guns" come with weaker springs that only allow them to be chronoed up to about 250 f/s. When i had a spyder that was the case, so i got a set of shocktech springs form planet.

I think 100 f/s might be a bit low, 200 might be better. But if this becomes a more common way of stopping idiots getting their hands on high velocity markers then walmart will just stock replacement springs.

 

[Jon S]

I've actually had a development of the original idea, as I've realised it may be less practical.

Markers come with a nut of some kind locking the velocity. This can only be removed with a special, one-time-use key (could be shaped like a smiley face or whatever) that snaps off once you've used it.

Can anyone guess what the key comes included with?

(hint: mask)

So:
• If grandma wants to buy Jimmy a paintball gun for him to shoot his friends with in the garden, it'll highlight to her that Jimmy-boy needs to wear a mask/play at a field instead.
• If teenage punk wants to go shoot up the neigbourhood or some eskimos, he has to buy a mask/go to a field with it in order to get the balls further than 20 feet. Added expense, and inconvenience.
• If teenage kiddie wants to play some paintball in his yard, he has to get a mask and should then use it as he's had to fork out cash/go to a proper field.

It isnt perfect, and there would be ways around it, but if it at least hightlights that you need a mask to play, kids would be more likely to start wearing them (if anything due to the fact they've *had* to buy one)

 

[JoseDominguez]

This may be an unpopular opinion, but in the UK I definately think paint should only be available from paintball sites/tournaments (obviously team supplies would be different for walk ons etc...). That would pretty much end the problem. After all, if you aren't playing at a site or tourney in the UK, then where are you playing?
Who would this affect? maybe a few people play on private land with nets and goggles, but there can't be many.

 

[Jon S]

Good point there JD, I actually remember being taken aback by a UK online shop (can't remember who it was) having the "paintballs" section only list why they wouldn't sell them, the main reason being that sites are the only place you should shoot them at, and sites need to sell the balls to exist.

I wonder how much of a problem it is in the UK, though, compared to the states where they're readily available at supermarket-esque superstores rather than in specific shops.

 

[JoseDominguez]

Take Sunderland for example......... we have a martial arts store that sells crappy plastic markers as a sideline, they sell paint in little baggies for about £5 for 50.......... who the hell is buying that for legitimate use?
Newcastle...... next closes town....... little army/navy shop....sells the same crap.
Until Recently a place in the metrocentre was selling handfuls in tiny amounts too.
None of that gets shot at players wearing masks.......it's used on paper boys, cats and moving cars.
So that's two shops within easy travel of me....... I bet everyone knows one.

 

[knobbs]

Sorry, that's a crock.

I played on private land for years, and did it safely with a chrono and defined mask on/off areas. Why?

Well, I had a field near me, but when I went home to visit the family, the nearest field was an hour away and had almost zero safety rules. Not gonna give money to that place. The next closest was 1 and a half hours away. Kind of hard to get people to drive that far to play regularly. Plus, some of my friends and family back home could not afford the ten dollar field fee and expensive field paint. I understand why it costs so much to play at a field, but not everyone is able to fork that cash out.

These people play safely and take responsibility for what happens. Taking that away from them either makes them a victim of the evil paintball industry for putting dangerous weapons in their hands (hey, they did it to the tobacco industry) or treats them like little babies (and these are, after all, adults).

Not only that, but what about those that want to do private training on their own land (again, SAFELY). Instead, you expect them to pay 10 bucks field fee and 70 bucks a case of paint to practice snap shooting instead of getting a 35 dollar case online and doing it in the back yard....SAFELY????

No no no no no....don't make people victims.

 

[knobbs]

Wow. Well, sorry Jose, but I wasn't even responding to your post--it came in while I was writing my response to a line in the post by Jon S--and it wasn't even a pop at him. I thought the context after his post was enough, but the line I was referring to was:

"sites are the only place you should shoot them at"

It wasn't a poke at anyone, just me stating my view.

But, I guess I can sum up my stance in a (mis)quoting from the NRA (and yeah, I believe in that to):

"Paintball guns don't shoot people's eyes out. People do."

Punish the people who do it, or make the punishment for the crime bad enough that they won't risk doing it. Don't punish the paintball industry becuase a minority decides they want to shoot someone at the local shopping mall. As long as the marker comes with the proper warnings and instructions, it is in the hands of the people that use them to use them correctly.

As a sidebar, I think it's a misnomer to think that it's always just "idiots with stingrays" who misuse paintball guns. I know plenty of people who have invested lots of money in guns who still see them as toys outside of the field. I know of one guy who had a nice autococker and shot up some guys car because he took his spot. I know one team who shot at each other in thier hotel room at the Philedelphia PSP without goggles. They invested all the money in gear and all the travel time and money to play PSP Philly and still are stupid enough to shoot each other up without goggles. One of the same team kept "testing" their NYX Matrix into the parking lot at PSP World Cup. And these are people that have played for YEARS, they just have no respect for other people or other people's property. In fact, when I was down in Orlando, I saw and heard plenty of pantball guns being fired with and without paint in the hotel.

 

[joe bob]

if this was a movie I'd need some popcorn...

I think the whole key thing sounds pretty good but who would/wouldnt agree to it?

 

[knobbs]

Key with the goggles would be alright, but what about people who have backups? I have 6 markers...do I need to purchase 6 pairs of goggles?