CNN has article injuries and Airguns

[BetaMax]

Only reason this is posted is because they include Paintball in that classification.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/11/01/bb.gun.ap/index.html

[MonsterMag]

that artical is bull , paintball is one of the safest sports when palyed correctlly

Nonpowder guns include powerful air rifles introduced in the 1970s and paintball pistols used in war games. They're sometimes described as fake guns and often given to children as gifts, but the report says they can cause internal injuries.


Paintball guns look nothin like really guns

cnn id full of it

[teufelhunden]

Stop caring. Paintball isn't getting banned. I'd love for it to get more bad press, so we have less stupid kids running around with mommy and daddy's credit card, maxxing them out, and then whining when you shoot them in the face

[personman]

It pisses me off. I dont see how they can compare paintballs to bbs? Their velocities are way different. Not to mention one projectile is metal and one is made of gelitan. That's so stupid.
'Hey, look, this 8 year old kid got killed by a BB, and paintballs are also round and fired out of a gun, so that must mean they are dangerous too!' I mean the worst a point blank shot with a properly chronoed paintball gun can do is draw blood..

[MayAMonkeyBeYourPinata]

It pisses me off. I dont see how they can compare paintballs to bbs? Their velocities are way different. Not to mention one projectile is metal and one is made of gelitan. That's so stupid.
'Hey, look, this 8 year old kid got killed by a BB, and paintballs are also round and fired out of a gun, so that must mean they are dangerous too!' I mean the worst a point blank shot with a properly chronoed paintball gun can do is draw blood..

Anybody who gets killed by BB wasn't going to last much longer anyway.

[Muzikman]

Anybody who gets killed by BB wasn't going to last much longer anyway.

I dunno, back when i was young, before anyone heard of paintball, we use to run around the woods and shoot eachother with BB guns. No one ever got seriously hurt, but I did have to go to the hospital to get one removed from my arm. I still have the scar.

Looking back on it, it wasn't too smart, but then again, not much we did was

[Beemer]

I mean the worst a point blank shot with a properly chronoed paintball gun can do is draw blood..

Ya right

[punkncat]

I dunno, back when i was young, before anyone heard of paintball, we use to run around the woods and shoot eachother with BB guns. No one ever got seriously hurt, but I did have to go to the hospital to get one removed from my arm. I still have the scar.

Looking back on it, it wasn't too smart, but then again, not much we did was

Yup , good ole BB gun warfare. We would stack on the clothes and wear safety goggles. We had a one pump rule and no CO2 powered guns. My Daisy Red Rider was the bomb. Held loads of BB's and with a quick single cocking action you were ready to shoot. Its size was good in the bush too.....

We did so many stupid things its amazing our generation survived. And now we are anal about what our kids are doing....

[warbeak2099]

Notice how the article includes data taken from incidents with all different types of nonpowder firearms. This can include anything from blowdart guns to pellet rifles. Anyone who's heard of GAMO knows that pellet rifles aren't exactly toys (they make a couple that reach velocities of 1000fps). Of course the good Dr. from NY uses this wacked out info. IMO he shouldn't be allowed anywhere near children seeing as how he condones using data that is misleading in order to get his way. That's the last kind of manipulative weasel I'd want anywhere near my children (if I had any).

Oh, and thanks a bunch once again "Clinton News Network". You've really given objective journalism and the search for the "truth" positive support... not.

[SlartyBartFast]

While the article did unfairly lump Paintball with other types of airguns without any detailed breakdown of the injuries, what's the problem? The article only really pushes parents to consider the dangers of the "toys" they buy their children.

from 1990 to 2000, there were 39 such deaths -- 32 of children younger than 15

Certainly underlines the fact that younger children should be supervised.
As for paintball being safe, well it is. BUT the key is that it is safe when supervised and organised in a professional and safe manner.
Load something other than a paintball into a mag and crank up the velocity. Tell me that's safe.
Some cool reaction asking for details of the injury statistics might be in order, but going off half-cocked isn't going to help any.

[warbeak2099]

Right, but Dr. Laraque's point has veered away from protecting our children recently. In other reports and news stories, he blatantly twists data and provides misinformation that makes paintball and airguns seem dangerous even when used properly. Which is simply bunk. I wrote the following comment to CNN to adress these concerns:

I recently read an article on your website about airguns/non-powder "weapons" and the dangers that accompany them. The article included data and comments that have risen out of the studies of a Dr. Danielle Laraque, a NY pediatrician.
While I respect this man for his concern about our children and their safety, I have serious reservations about his working with our youngsters. His data is basically misleading and when studied more closely it is very blatant what the truth really is.
The truth is that paintball and other airguns are quite safe when used appropriately and with the proper safety precautions being taken. Dr. Laraque and your website however fail to mention this. The Dr's data is not taken from situations when proper safety measures are taken with these "guns". The data is compiled from situations in which the guns are used for vandalism and violent attacks. Thus my reservations about his contact with children. I believe that him condoning the manipulation of "facts" and the introduction of misleading info is more dangerous to our society than bb or paintball guns.
But I digress. I just thought the rest of your site's readers might like to hear the real truth. Not Dr. Laraque's twisted data. Thank you for your time and as a side note, I am an avid paintball player and long-time advocate of the sport. In the future please try and take the time to find out the full story, and not just one side. After all, news is supposed to be objective is it not? Thank you again.
Sincerely,
My name here


While I value our children's safety, I also value the truth. I do not wish to teach the children of America that lying or twisting facts in order to get your way is at all correct behavior. That's the real issue here. This report is just the straw that broke the camel's back. There have been too many stories worse than this, most involving Dr. Laraque. I simply wrote this comment to the people at CNN online to convey the whole truth, not just one side. Most likely they will toss it and no one will get to see, but it's better than sitting around and doing nothing.

[hitech]

...we use to run around the woods and shoot eachother with BB guns...
Looking back on it, it wasn't too smart, but then again, not much we did was

Glad to know I'm not the only one.

[slade]

wow... how idiotic...

Nonpowder guns kill an average of four Americans yearly

sure sounds dangerous... 4 people killed out of millions. are they desperate for articles or something?

[Bulldog]

I dunno, back when i was young, before anyone heard of paintball, we use to run around the woods and shoot eachother with BB guns.

Me too. Magazines and duck tape made great bullet proof vests. Also had the one pump rule. Good times...

[Rokudon]

uhhhh wtf is this?? BBs reaching 0.22 caliber rifle speeds?? i get VERY bored at home sometimes and did some research on airguns a while back, maximum i've ever heard of was 600 FPS! and that was for springer sinper rifle variants!! now someone tell me a .22 RIFLE that shoots 600 FPS. or even 1000FPS.. if i am wrong, then ignore this post.

all i know is, an M-16 runs 5.56mm nato rounds (i think thats 0.223 caliber) and i think they hit around 1600 FPS. ok nvm, upon researching they hit 2800 FPS. what parent would even let a kid upgrade a BB rifle to that FPS? with a "300%" spring in an airsoft M24, you hit around 500 fps! sure there are injuries, what sport in the modern world does not have them? airsoft and ANY sport that uses a system to fire a projectile usually recieves the most scrutiny, because it shoots.

well, in that case, why don't they scrutinize that winter olympics ski and shoot thing? to most people it means absolutely nothing to them, but according to something i heard (or read) on the news, it was based on some military training. they found it to be so well on testing personal abilities that they decided to include it into the olympics.

woo i gota stop venting out like this...