City council vs. Paintball

[beam]

I guess another way of looking at it is this: If there had been an "uprising" a few years back it would have forced people to TAKE SIDES. This would have been tragic because people would have taken a side without any way of seeing what a paintball tourny is like. The general public would have had to form an opinion on the matter, I mean afterall, it would have been in the news that 100 paintball players stormed a city council meeting. BUT, they wouldn't have been able to go out and see a paintball tournament. The only thing they would have based their decision on would have the mob. In this case, keeping the pressure on city council accute and focused was, in my opinion, the best way to go.

[Quiet]

That scared the living crap out of me. I'm going to school in a town called Waterloo, I was about to send a letter to town hall. Boy was I relieved that it was a different Waterloo.

Now I'm just annoyed at people who make judgements about that which they have no knowledge of. I think the cure is to drag them all onto the paintball feild and make them play. They'll have so much fun they'll pass laws granting us more freedom to play.

[cphilip]

I understand your anger quiet but you gotta think with the big head not the little one...

[Quiet]

But seriously,
I think if they got exposed to what paintball really is, it would open their eyes a little bit. They couldn't be so narrow minded about it if they'd tried it.

[raehl]

Eeek..

I wasn't advocating an "uprising". I was advocating going to the meeting with as many people as you can find who support paintball and having them adress the council one by one with why they think whatever should be allowed (in this case, the tournament). Kids who play paintball, parents of kids who play paintball, field owners, team members, etc. You obviously need to be respectful in order to be successful at being informative, but a demonstration that there are plenty of people who view paintball as the recreational activity it is can go a long way towards showing the field owner in question isn't a violence promoting nut trying to bring in extremists from outsie the community, but a normal business promoter providing an entertainment service to the members of the community who WANT that service.

It should also be pointed out that you shouldn't argue your case JUST at public meetings. You need to go into offices, make appointments, and talk to people one-on-one. Let them know who you are, give them an opportunity to have a discussion with you when they're not in front of the public and the press.

I totally agree that mass uprisings can do more damage than good. For example, in Baltimore, the councilmembers email boxes and phones and faxes have been overrun by paintball players trying to do their part sending ill-thought-out messages about how cool paintball is and paintball safety etc. without adressing the real issues at hand - why it's not a good idea to ban paintball markers in Baltimore and the alternatives available that don't result in a ban. That pile of poorly targetted messages makes it very difficult for people who DO have messages appropriate to the situation to get them through. I've spoken with several people in and near Baltimore directly affected by the bill who can't get through to councilmembers because they've been drowned out by the masses of out of state people who the councilmembers could care less about.

- Chris

[shartley]

ahhhh... I feel better now. :)

[Quiet]

This is the reason that most sports have a national governing body. These bodies have clout because of the millions of people who are members. They carry themselves in a very professional manner which city councils respect. They also tend to stem the flow of all of these e-mails and such because the members realize that it is their job to handle the situation. And they do so far more effectively than any mob.

[raehl]

Which is exactly why I started APPA. We just have a good chunk of work to do before we're really off the ground. Fortunately a good group of people have stepped up to help out.

- Chris

[Quiet]

If you want to make it continental instead of just American, pm me. I have a number of contacts with the sports governing bodies in Canada. I was kicking around as the Canadian Snowboard Federation came into being. Didn't do much but I am very observant and learned a lot (boy did they make a lot of mistakes). I am involved with the provincial body for that sport now. It suffered many of the same image problems that have plagued paintball, and they've cleared them up.