Paintball nearly banned in some areas?

[j.t.]

I was just reading some of the letters to the editor in the June issue of APG and some people mentioned paintball almost being banned in some areas?! Kids were also complaining about how they had paintball magazines taken away at school and got into trouble for looking at paintball websites. It sounds like word hasn’t gone around yet in some areas that paintball is a safe and respectable sport.
I guess my thanks go out to the players and field owners here in Maine for promoting our sport so well. I have seen three reviews on the 6:00 news already in the past couple months about new fields opening, upcoming tournaments in the area, and even one which purpose was to show how paintball has gotten the wrong image but is actually a safe, fun, and interesting sport that anyone can play (they actually got one of the guys who usually reviews ski-resorts, hiking areas etc. to go out and play paintball).
Maybe it's time to start writing to your local news broadcaster or newspaper, or even try contacting them some other way to try to get them to do a review on paintball. I think if people start to here some positive things about paintball from some respectable sources that aren’t just read by the paintball community we could get some of that positive feedback we deserve!:D

[shartley]

I was just reading some of the letters to the editor in the June issue of APG and some people mentioned paintball almost being banned in some areas?!
That would depend on a person’s definition of “almost”. Many times when I read about “almosts” it is not even close… yes, there were talks, or even steps taken to ban or highly restrict the sport in areas, but a lot of the time it dealt with ONLY public lands. And other times it dealt with entire areas, but other steps in the process quickly stopped any actions from being taken. That is the wonderful thing about the “system”, it is set up so that NO law can just “slip” into being.. the public DOES have a say. But on the same note, it is up to the public to keep track of what is happening in their communities.

But saying Paintball is being banned is a good headline… and that is what sells magazines and makes for good “reading”… even if it is not quite reported in the exact way it happened….


Kids were also complaining about how they had paintball magazines taken away at school and got into trouble for looking at paintball websites.
Another misleading “thought”. Although I am sure it is accurate, I would be willing to bet that if they were reading “HotRod magazine” or any other such Magazine, they would have been taken away as well. Same with visiting other Web Sites. And I personally don’t have a problem with this. Sometimes kids (and other adults) forget what School is for…. And it is not for reading your favorite magazine or surfing the web for your favorite sites. I think this particular issue is one NOT strictly related to paintball, but the activity of “non-School” related stuff.


It sounds like word hasn’t gone around yet in some areas that paintball is a safe and respectable sport.
Well, it also seems like every time I turn around I read a GOOD thing about paintball lately. I have also heard good things from Non-paintball folks about the sport. Each and every day, paintball is becoming a more acceptable sport. And it seems that those who always complain about how bad the rep is for paintball just are not looking very hard to find anything other than the bad press. This is not a cut on you personally, but I can assure you that times ARE changing and the work IS out… You even prove this point in your own post….


I guess my thanks go out to the players and field owners here in Maine for promoting our sport so well. I have seen three reviews on the 6:00 news already in the past couple months about new fields opening, upcoming tournaments in the area, and even one which purpose was to show how paintball has gotten the wrong image but is actually a safe, fun, and interesting sport that anyone can play (they actually got one of the guys who usually reviews ski-resorts, hiking areas etc. to go out and play paintball).
See? You just said that the word has not gone around yet… but then follow up with that…. ;)


Maybe it's time to start writing to your local news broadcaster or newspaper, or even try contacting them some other way to try to get them to do a review on paintball. I think if people start to here some positive things about paintball from some respectable sources that aren’t just read by the paintball community we could get some of that positive feedback we deserve!
Yes, very true. And good reviews in the sports section are a great thing…

I will have to add thought that for every “bad” thing about press and paintball you say in this post, you yourself offer proof to the opposite. :D I agree that there can not be enough good press for the sport… but I don’t think it is in any danger at the moment from bad press or from being banned….

[Croix71]

I think a lot of the legislation that is appearing now is for the proper use and transportation of paintball guns & airguns.

As for paintball magazines being banned that would be dependent upon each school district. Teachers could take them away if you opened them in class. They'd probably see it as a distraction in class. I remember in my high school game boys being banned. If you brought one to school it would get confiscated even if you didn't have it on. Your parents had to come pick it up if you wanted it back

Looking at paintball website at a school would probably raise some concern. Not because of paintball but because your using school property (which probably is funded by the state government) not for it's intended use.

[AcemanPB]

i was searching the internet and i came across some guy who was an "expert on kids" and wrote an article that made paintball sound really dangerous he was talking about how any respectable parent would not let thier kids play such a violent sport with all these school shooting and such

i e-mailed and explained to how safe the sport was and even gave him a link to this site, i hope he reads it

[Maghog]

There is one reason why paintball is doing so well in the state of Maine, it's because of the efforts of Rogue Paintball and the MRPL(Maine Recreational Paintball League)
These guys have managed to stay persistent, tracking down the bad publicity and shedding light onto the rumors which paintball's image too often suffers from.
They have unified the state of Maine, nearly all operating fields are members if only to show their support for paintball. The best part has been their focus on safety and making that a requirement for any field that wants to join.
The MRPL is young, but given time it will be a model that other states will look to copy in order to obtain the success it has.
There are over 250 members in the league already, though the focus is on rec ball, a tournament circuit has been created and the response has been overwhelming.
I am proud to know the people who formed this league and to see it prosper as it has.

[magatron]

i think there should be more groups like the mrpl, like one in each state, it could possably help out quite abit. the school thing is tricky as well, like at my old school, i would be forced to change or wear inside out my jt paintball t-shirt, but at my new school, all the teachers and such are realy interested in it and i've even talk one teacher into buying a marker for his son. it's weird how stuff like that works, i guess it's just from group to groups asumptions on what our sport is and isn't. i'm prity sure paintball will have it's turbulance, just skateboarding did a few years back, and now it's blossemed into a full grown televised sport the world over, i think all we need is time a some organization.