Paintball prank spurs crusade
This article is taken from the Saturday 1/18/03 edition of the Daily Record. It is local newspaper here in Morris County NJ.
The link to the article can be found here.
http://www.dailyrecord.com/news/03/0...-paintball.htm
Paintball prank spurs crusade
By Pamela Isaacson, Daily Record
A few inches and Tom Sullivan could be blind.
With his window rolled down, Sullivan was driving on Harter Road on Dec. 26 when he felt a whack near the back of his head.
Because of the snowfall on Christmas Day, he assumed it was an ice ball.
He was wrong.
A paintball had been shot into his car from a nearby yard. It splattered white paint over the driver's seat and the back of his jacket and left Sullivan angry.
So angry that he chased the juveniles and called police.
So angry that he's contacted legislators about placing tighter restrictions on paintball guns. One New Jersey congressman said he has begun looking into the possibility of new paintball gun regulations.
"I am absolutely furious," said Sullivan, a councilman in Clinton Township. "Parents need to be sent a message that if you are going to provide your underage juveniles with these types of weapons, they need some control over them."
Current regulations say that juveniles can possess paintball guns, but only people over the age of 18 can buy them. However, there are no restriction on children purchasing parts for the gun, and anyone can purchase the actual paintball, a thin-skinned gelatin capsule with non-toxic colored liquid inside it, or a cartridge or tank refill, according to Mike Moore, manager of Paintball Depot in West Milford.
Sullivan is legally blind in his left eye. He sees shadows but little else. He said that if the paintball had hit about three inches higher, he could have lost sight in his right eye, as well.
"If something happened to my other eye, which was a great possibility that night, I could be blind right now," Sullivan said.
"I'm not looking to bust these parents, but we need people to know these guns are dangerous."
Eye protection is insisted upon at regulated paintball game parks, where teens and adults can join teams to play a capture-the-flag type of game with paintball guns.
At Paintball Depot, which operates a game park in West Milford, goggles are not only required, but also monitored by game referees.
"That's our major rule," said Moore. "If you take them off once, the referee marks your wristband. If it's twice, you're done."
Moore said that when used properly, paintball is a safe and fun sport that attracts people of all ages. He said a busy weekend at the game park, usually in the fall or spring, means 200 to 300 people are playing.
Paintball guns, or markers, run on either a cartridge or a tank of carbon dioxide or compressed air.
Make it inoperable
Sullivan said his son owns a paintball gun, but Sullivan has removed the carbon dioxide tank to make it inoperable.
"It's as simple as turning a light bulb and it renders the gun harmless," Sullivan said.
"He can have the gun in his room, but he can't shoot it. All of the mothers and fathers who bought guns for Christmas don't know that."
Sullivan said all parents should be held accountable if their underage children have access to what he considers a potential deadly weapon.
Morris Township Detective Kevin O'Shea said he was one of the officers on the scene after Sullivan called to report the incident.
Followed footprints
O'Shea said officers followed the juveniles' footprints in the snow through backyards and a golf course until the steps led to the boys' home.
"The parents had no idea the boys were out," O'Shea said, "but there were the dripping wet shoes and two paintball guns covered with snow on the back deck."
In New Jersey, paintball guns are classified as weapons instead of the more serious firearm classification.
"Under the statute, a slingshot could be a weapon," O'Shea said. "But, to look at this thing if somebody pointed it at you, you would think it's a gun."
O'Shea said the juveniles were charged with possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and criminal mischief, lesser offenses than if the juveniles were using firearms.
"I think they should be treated the same as firearms because of all the trouble we're having," O'Shea said, adding that there are at least a dozen paintball guns in the police department's evidence room.
Unlawful purpose
Sullivan said he's approached local, state and federal politicians about legislation that would better control the use of paintball guns for an unlawful purpose.
U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson, R-Hunterdon, said he's using his resources to determine the possibility of federal legislation.
"We're going to be working on different levels of elected officials to investigate and look into what might be appropriate in terms of helping to safeguard people from youngsters who might not take the responsibility of operating a paintball gun as seriously as they need to," Ferguson said.
"At the end of the day, it's probably something that is more appropriately addressed at the state or local level, but it's not to say we in Congress shouldn't have a role or a responsibility to work with state, local and county officials to see what the best course of action is."
According to the New Jersey Legislature Web site, there haven't been any bills proposed concerning paintball guns.
Sullivan said he's willing to go as far as necessary to make sure parents are held responsible if their children operate paintball guns in a dangerous manner.
But, even without legislation, Sullivan said he wants to educate parents.
"They need to know how easy it is to dismantle," he said. "Parents need to know what they can do."
Pamela Isaacson can be reached at pisaacson@gannett.com or (973) 267-8937.
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