Would you pull the trigger? An ethics poll

[JonDaAzn]

do unto others BEFORE they do unto you

[SuiciDal Sn Y p ER]

if i know the guy i was shooting. i'd cap him lol
if it was a stranger. well...i'd still be tempted to cap him
if it was tom kaye. i'd shoot myself

[Tyger]

Intresting.

Well, the "rest" of the story.

I was playing Nick with my SC Phantom (It had the Micro C/A on the back! It's an Airgun product! ) At one point in the final battle, I saw an openeing to move into the buildings, and dove into a doorway. I didn't realise that it was a 1 door building, nor that most of the openings to shoot out of are small breaks in the boards. Well, from my spot, I saw a lot of people within 30 feet. These are gimme shots, and I took out more than a few from that spot.

There comes a point that I realise that the shooting from behind be has stopped. I look out the window to my left, and there's a guy's knee 3 feet away. I don't want to take that shot, it's too close. So I set up in a window to longball someone at a distance. I have the barel tip poking out the hole, as a firing platform.

That's when the "target" steps into my building. I thought I heard someone try to tell him that there was a "blue guy" in the building, but he was blissfully unaware of the warning. He saw blue players up the field, and presed his body into the building. And in the process, pressed his crotch into the hole my barrel was poking from. Heck, if I wanted to I could have told you his religion, he was that close.

Now what I did. I relaised a few things very quickly. Frest 12 gram, so I had a full pull shot chambered. We were shooting Diablo, which was good paint on the day but it was rather HARD. It bounced off of goggles, in some cases. I realised he was not wearing a cup. I realised that if I did take the shot, the game would end there and then. I remember EMR's final shootout, and the guy who got clocked there in the skull. I didn't want a repeat performance.

So I poked him with the barrel, and tapped my hand on his hip away from the "Goods" and said "Rambo." He stopped, and began to argue with me about it. I said "RAMBO!" again. I don't know about you all, but if someone's got a barrel in my privates, and is offering me the chance to walk away without pain, I'm buyin' him beer or a soda or something.

Anyhow, as I'm trying to argue with this guy that I had in fact Ramboed him, Psycho (goes by the nick "americanpsycoX" here...) comes around the left of me and shoots. Ok, I kinda expected it form someone eventually. Got paint between the thermals of my goggles, but I can accept that as safe behavior on a field. It wasn't point blank, and it was only like 3 or so shots to the mask / visor. Looking back, the guy I had the "Drop" on should be thankful I had a LOT of trigger control, and dind't fire a "Retaliation" shot, point blank.

The 'victim' ran away from me, and evnetually got shot by his teammates. I ran into him at the frint gate, cleaning up his hit. I asked Harry (one of the refs) if the Rambo rule was in effect. "Becasue I just almost castrated a guy out there." Harry asked me to ID the player. "Sure. Some guy in camo who's not wearing a cup." The guy was standing right there. I didn't "rat him out" because it was last game of the day, last 10 minutes of the last game, and it wasn't worth the headache.

And how dod I know it was the same guy? Well, like I said, I got a VERY GOOD LOOK at his camo, and my barrel got more intimate than anything has the right to be with his personage. Besides, the guy had that "deer in the headlights" look when I was talking about it with Harry. The guy knew. I knew. That's all that mattered to me.

I guess the reason I posted all this was to see something. When I related the story to a few people at the field, I was asked "Why didn't you shoot him?" I thought it was an odd question to ask. I mean, why would you want to, or enjoy the process of shooting some guy in the groin who not only has no idea it's coming, but probably doesn't deserve to be permanently disabled.

I also know that heavy trauma to the groin can result in sterilization. To my knowledge, there has been no incidents of this in paintball. And I wasn't about to make the first one. A lawsuit wasn't on my mind first thing, but as I thought about it later, I realised that I could be named for assault if I took the shot. It wasn't necessary.

It's kinda nice to know that I'm not the only one with this opinion.

-Tyger

[Kaiser Bob]

Im with ya Tagger, some people lost sight of the possible injuries these things can do when you act inappropriately...

[Caffiend]

I probably wouldn't have shot. I HATE shooting ppl at close range, unless it's a tournament setting(not that I enjoy it then). In rec-ball or scenarios, I'm more there to have fun than get elimations or wins. And stopping the game because some guy is writhing on the ground in the worst of pains is not fun, in my eyes.

[breg]

Hmmmmm, Tyger, I'd have to agree with you. But for different reasons. I would have felt really, really, really bad intentionally shooting someone in the crotch. I'm wierd like that. If it was a shot from down range that happened to hit him in the "goods" then it would have been different. But, doing that to anyone on purpose is just plain mean.
And, like you said, if someone offered me the same change you gave this guy, I'd have a new drinking buddy.

[Albinonewt]

Tell ya what Tyger. I'm with you until he argues the Rambo with you. Then I take the shot. You can't force people to be smart.

[SlartyBartFast]

Originally posted by splat15k
remember the Golden Rule

He that has the gold makes the rules.

[kosmo]

Now to me that situation definately falls under the "'accidentally' drop a case of paint on his groin when he is sitting down" scenario I mentioned earlier. Ungrateful brat...

[Jeffy-CanCon]

Good story, Rob. Sucks that the guy argued and you got screwed for it, but you did the right thing. Although AlbinoNewt's logic is pretty good, too, and probably what I would have actually done.

[paintballcowboy]

I don't think any dude should "mess" with another dude's junk.

NO
general touching (caress massage)
punching
kicking
hitting
biting
licking
shooting
poking
smelling
and more...?...?...

[nerobro]

Tyger, in my opinion, any argument, and they asked for it. Remember me at sams? I looked up and it was "you got me." I've yet to deal with someone so dense as to not accept a rambo. But they were his nuts, and he knew where your barrel was. And he refused the rambo. I think you did the better thing though :-) Congratulations for taking the high road. Then again, I don't have a reputation to protect. :-/

[SlartyBartFast]

The review on WARPIG is timely. The question is: How many want to run around the paintball field wearing a chain-mail loin-cloth?

[rdb123]

Now I'm wondering if my Dye Slider shorts and Dye pants (somewhat loose on me in that area) would be able to soften that blow a good amount or not. =\

-Ron

That guy should be thankful you kept your cool. Good job.

[Trina]

Tyger you did the right thing!! I personally am competitive and love the sport...but when it comes to safety I think we all need to put our egos aside and do the right thing. I think in your case, I would've rather been the person to get shot out, cuz someone isn't playing the game right, then to potentially damage someones "stuff". That is just way uncool, and it makes me very sad to see that there are a few pballers out there who think the game is more important then safety.