Paintball's bleak future

[Maghog]

How much more will it take for us to lose the sport of paintball completely? From the ban in Baltimore, to the attack on Gary Holden, we are constantly losing ground, and rarely if ever gaining any.
In the national spotlight, paintball IS a "wargame" whether we think so or not. We cannot expect to compare the misuse of our equipment to that of other sports, i.e. baseball or golf, where putters and bats have been often used as a deadly weapon. It just won't work, and we need to realize that.
Paintball is a different animal altogether, and I believe that only those who truly enjoy it and understand have the ability to defend it.
No one says, I don't like baseball because of the potential destructive nature the bats imply, they just say it's boring if they don't like it.
When paintball is mentioned, war comes to mind, then the question of pain, and safety. Sure, we know how safe it is, but we can't continue to believe that we can convince everyone of this.
The industry needs to start to take the lead in guiding paintball towards even safer territory. Debates online between players are fruitless, and though they can be entertaining, you can tell that if it were left up to the forum members, you'd have as many opinions as you do members, and barely any agreement as to what to do.
After all, the industry has the most invested in this sport, and make a living out of it. Continuing to hope that the next incident won't damage our sport more than the last is just too risky. At some point they may find they have nothing left.
These are my fears, and as much as I love paintball and the excitement it gives me, I feel we are headed for disaster, and inevitably an all out ban.
If not that, paintball will become restricted in a very harsh way. I won't even speculate, but I think you can imagine. At that point it will be too late for the representatives of paintball to come to the bargaining table. If they take the initiative however, their goodwill would be recognized and rewarded.
I see the industry is looking for help from us with the incident involving Mr. Holden. Well, I'm asking for help from the industry on behalf of the players.
Things are getting out of hand. Every highway sign and stop sign is marked with a paintball. Houses get shot, and people too. Saying that these vandals would just find other ways to create mischief is NOT an excuse for paintball to go on existing in the eyes of those who have been on the receiving end of these criminal acts.
Something really needs to be done, and I don't really want to hear what that would be from any member here, after all I'm not telling you what I think should be done.
If the industry wants to turn to the players for answers, then it's their choice. I see them as our leader though, and they may have some very tough choices to make in the near future. Giving them your support and encouragement to keep paintball a sport we can enjoy is the best you can do as a player.
I wish that this message could be more optimistic, and that my fears won't ever come true, but if we don't come to grips with the fact that paintball's existence is a fragile one, then we may have to learn it the hard way someday.

[shartley]

“proposed ban”

I have not seen any “recent” attempts to ban the sport actually take effect. I do however see diligent efforts by paintball “folks” to head off any such attempts. And this would be a GOOD indicator, not bad. But this happens for everything from Zoning issues for Businesses, Dog and Pet Laws, etc. It is far from being simply a Paintball Issue. Heck, look at bike riding, skateboarding, roller blading, etc.

As for losing ground because of the attack in LA…. That is all a matter of personal opinion. I personally don’t think paintball as a whole has lost ANY ground on that issue yet. I see a lot of “what ifs” and “could happens”, but noting yet. So until then, in my opinion, it is all a “the sky is falling” matter.

As for the rest of the post, I agree with <i>most</i> of it. But the problem is that you can NEVER control what idiots do with ANY product, piece of sporting equipment, etc. But if the Sport of Paintball becomes more accepted as a mainstream sport, it will be easier to defend the actions of a few idiots. The more people who play the sport, the easier it will be to show GOOD things to the general public.

So, I guess what I am suggesting is that more effort be put into getting NEW players and less in selling the sport and its “new markers” to existing players. By getting more players you are already letting the existing players know about your new toys….

I know that every time any other Industry has faced massive amounts of “bad press” you soon see commercials from the industry reassuring the general public that everything is just fine, safe, or whatever the issue may be. I often wonder why I don’t see the same thing for THIS industry. After all they DO have a Manufacturers Organization don’t they?

One other point I would like to mention is that EVERY other major sport or activity has gone through its growing pains and had its problems.. why does anyone think Paintball should be any different? After all if you look at it THAT way, what is happening may be a good sign that the sport is growing (I am not saying they are good things, just a good sign). With that said, the industry would be well advised to help guide and protect its growing baby (as you have suggested)…. But it is a good thing that it IS beginning to grow…. Because if it wasn’t noone would care, but they DO. ;)

I don’t have time to elaborate (busy day.. no kidding right? LOL), but I hope that I sparked some ideas and showed that often times if you just change the way you look at something, it may not be as bad as you may have first thought.

[soilent green]

good point but but I think we are gaining some ground as more people are playing and speedball is not so "scary" as woods. I think we need a safty course to get people educated and licensed not one with age limits just a little card that says you have completed a safty and responsibility course and can now purchase a paintgun and operate it. We the paintball community need to show our dissaproval of inproper use of the markers we love.

[FordPrefect]

Maghog, if you could PLEASE seperate that huge post some, it is almost painful to read.

[Maghog]

As you may know, I now live in Germany, and this is what I have to deal with, all of which was written by Sledgehammer, an AO member, and a police officer.

A few words concerning laws in Germany:

- It's pretty hard to get a license as a field owner. That's why most fields
in south western Germany are located on US facilities.
- Technically it's illegal to use US or British CO2 bottels or HP systems in
Germany (It's legal to have them but it's illegal to fill them) - However
this is not an issue if you play in France or on US facilities.
- Markers have to pass inspection with our federal police to become legal in
Germany (Markers that are not yet legal over here include the Automag RT
pro, the Emag, the Emag Extreme and the Bob Long Intimidator).
- Markers have to be transported in the trunk of your car, preferably in a
locked container, you can only transport it from one place where you are
allowed to use it to another (e.g. from aour home to a field), while
transporting it there can be no gas and no balls in it (gas is debatable
though)
- Markers can't shoot faster then 230 fps in Germany, anything with an
impact energy higher then 7.5 joules will be regarded as a firearm that you
need a license for. (The first Automags over here actually came with the
velocity adjusting nut loctited in).
- All legal markers have to have the F sign (little F in a pentagon) newer
Brass Eagle Markers come with it from the States others get it from the
- There are some parts you can put on your marker that are a big NO NO: Most
barrels with muzzle brakes. Everything that is mounted vertically in the
front e.g. regulators, expansion chambers, the Emag battery pack, front
grips. Supressors. Again this doesn't apply while playing in France or on US
facilities. It still does apply while transporting the gun though.
- Electros can't go full auto or burst fire in Germany (that'd automatically
make them a military fire arm and could get you into really serious
trouble), so just leave the tournament jumpers out.
- If you are under 18 you're not allowed to have a marker. It's a serious
crime to give a marker to anyone under the age of 18.
I think these are basically the most important guidelines.
Oh, and shooting your marker outside of private property or a playingfield
will also get you into bad trouble.

You see paintball over here is pretty troublesome ;-)

I hope I was able to help you guys a little, Götz (Sledgehammer)

I have played in Germany, and trust me, you don't want to know how depressing it is compared to what we're used to in America.
Yes, our sport is growing, and I hope that it continues to do so in the right direction. I'm only stating my fears of what could come.
Did any of you know that following the second world war, football was nearly declared illegal because there were too many deaths in the sport?
As a result, the forward pass was invented(that's right, all they ever did was run the ball) and it changed the game.
How does this relate when there are no deaths in our sport? There are simply too many paintball guns out there being misused, and unfortunately there can't be a rule change in the game that will stop that.

Shartley-I'm really happy to see you being positive about this, and I think it's the best attitude to have, although caution should be practiced. You asked,"why does anyone think Paintball should be any different?" when cosidering these growing pains.
I think the answer is quite obvious, people really see what we do as inspiring violence and being dangerous.
No doubt, football once had the same critics, but I think paintball has a tougher time convincing people because it involves "guns". That word alone is an association with "killing" for many people.

Soilent green, although I wasn't asking for suggestions, I share similar ideas. The problem is that this can't be done without infringing on the rights of Americans, or at the very least pissing off some veteran paintballers who have always played the right way, as I must say 95% of us do. It's those 5% or less abusers of the equipment I'm worried about, and what they will do to us.

I really may be too worried, and all is fine as Shartley said, in which case this topic is done. I don't think we've seen the last of this issue though. What happened to Gary Holden is simply awful, and it truly enrages me.
I don't want to stand here and say,"I told you so," ever...and I try to do my part to prevent it.

We can all try and do what we can, but I really do think that paintball is going to get slapped hard with some restrictions similar to those I've witnessed in Germany if the initiative isn't taken by the industry.

I've got plenty of ideas too, but I'm not a legislator, nor a member of the manufacturers organization. I just think that when they react after something happens instead of taking preventative action they aren't putting themselves in a good position to negotiate with the people who have the scissors around the strings they are dangling by.

[Micromag5371]

i got some stuff for you people to think about.

humans, for as long as there has been recorded history, seem to fucus more on the negative things in life. Everybody seems to focus and think that negative ways seem to be much easier to look at and comprehend than positive ways. People dont like to look at the positive aspects, it seems that its pointless when you have a few bad aspects of a subject.


So, Heres my advice:
GROW UP
you dont live long enough to concern yourself with all bad details of any subject you can think of.

Paintball is gaining ground in the battle of public acceptance.
Think of how many kids, 10 yrs old and older, that play paintball. Most of them Dont sneak off to play paintball, and their parents know about it. im sure their parents are much more comfortable seeing their children play paintball, in a controlled environment, then thinking about their kids roaming the streets alone at night, or with people that are trouble. paintball is a great source of team work, physical exercise, mental exercise, it makes you work under pressure better, and there are deadlines in paintball. time limits help so people dont become procrastinators.

[nutz]

maghog-
i see exactly where u are coming from and i do understand that possiblity, also that totaly sucks in germany how the laws barely outlaw paintball... i see this right now that paintballs future is totaly impossible to predict... not that any future can be predicted but some future is more predictable than others, and right now it is probably up to the active players of our sport to decide where paintball goes...

for players to decide, things need to happen. all players should try to present themselves best and educate other people about the sport... the more people hear about how fun and exciting paintball is, the more that try it and if we show them a good time then the more people that think paintball is not a war game and that its a fun and recreational or competative game... this is what us, the players of the sport must do. we must do things like starting school clubs and talking to local park districts about setting up a trip to the local field er something like that... or just take a friend or two paintballing. understand?

if stuff like this doesnt happen paintball's future will definitly be unsure and might even totaly go down the drain like u said

:)