The Shame, the horror, the possible legal action...?

[Lohman446]

I'm gonna be the contrary one.

I don't know about where you live, but in some jurisdictions verbal abuse, threatening or cussing is considered assault. Actually hitting someone would be assault and battery.

While for you to press assault charges against the kid for overshooting is almost certainly valid, you should consider the repercussions of that choice. It would set a nasty precedent in the courts, and probably result in much higher liability insurance fees for paintball fields everywhere. And from the sound of your personal situation, it might very well get your field closed down.

I agree... he has the defense of ignorance, when he fired at you he thought you were still in the game and that was part of the game - when you fired at him you were in the wrong, as you were clearly out of the game at that point and it was obvious to you.

Best bet... apologize, you lost your cool. Did he screw up? Most certainly, but it does not excuse your actions. Apologize, get over it, and move on. You likely don't want a legal argument over this, because they seldom, if ever, come out well.

[mcdkid]

off topic, but i think i may know who the field owner is. PM me with the field name, if you don't mind. thanks.

[1977FordBronco]

no damages = no case. I really don't think you have anything to worry about.

[Lohman446]

no damages = no case. I really don't think you have anything to worry about.

Do you not comprehend that assault is a criminal charge as well as civil? There need not be damages for criminal issues. Though I do highly doubt that anyone will bother, unless you are in a little town and he is a campaign contributor to a bored district attorney.

[Aslan]

Nice Story

I like cal's response...disagree a little bit with Lohman's legal interpretation...

I had a similar thing happen...but it didn't get that far. I was staying back with a guy that had a sweet Tippmann A5/Flatline monster gun. He had it all decked out and was toasting people with it. Since my main 3 guns had broken, I was using this c%ap Brass Eagle Eradicator. It was working okay, but the velocity was all over the map and when it would spike the balls would blow up and...well, the moral of the story is I was having a BAD DAY.

Well, our team ahead of us must have taken some losses because a front of 3 players moved in on us from the front while two other opposing players flanked us on the left. However, the guy with the A5 was tearing it up so I didn't really mind. Well, then he gets hit. So now I'm all alone...I figure I'll have to retreat or I'll be toast real fast. As I make a run for it, a player from the front of us lights up my leg. So, I call myslef out and but my barrel sock on and hold my gun up in the air as I walk toward the exit where the ref is standing. As I exit, one of the guys that was on our flank hits me twice in the facemask and once in the neck from <20 feet.

I duck behind some cover yelling, "I'M OUT!! I'M OUT" and the ref yells at the player that I'm out and not to shoot me. When I exited the field...I was really pissed off...mainly because that neck shot stung like a mother. So I think of how I'm gonna lay into this dude when he exits the field. Turns out, the dude was actually an 11-year old kid...a dorky little idiot...but a kid nonetheless. It's weird...I almost wished he was 20 so I could really lay into him.

In your situation, forget about it. This topic comes up in hockey all of the time. Unless you blatently go after another player and make a real attempt to injure him AND you actually do injure him, he's got no case. The lawyer will need to prove damages, and there are none. I suppose you could get hit with a swearing violation of a local ordinance or something...but that's just a fine or misdemeanor in most cases. I would try to contact the father and apologize. Explain your side and tell him you lost your cool and are sorry...if he doesn't accept your apology, tell him a good father would teach his son about forgiveness rather than about how to be a p*ick...then end it.

[Magglerock]

He tells the owner and proprieter that if I am not expelled from the field he will bring legal action.

DAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHAAAAA AA

oh man, wait...

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHAA AAA

Sorry, that made me laugh, which is exactly what you should have done, right in the face of the *** who threatened "legal action". Dude, you have absolutley NOTHING to worry about. What is he going to sue you for? Did you injure the kid? No. Did the kid sign a waiver to play the game? Yes. If I had been you, I would have punched that *** in the face; at least then would have had something to bring "legal action" over. Is this what this country has devolved into? The uneducated masses, threatening "action" when they have absolutley no understanding of the law? If this guy had a pair, he would have knocked your block off. "Legal action" is what people scream when they not only have no grounds to bring it, but are incapbale of bringing ANYTHING. Do not waste your time worrying about this for one more second.

[Magglerock]

I agree... he has the defense of ignorance, when he fired at you he thought you were still in the game and that was part of the game - when you fired at him you were in the wrong, as you were clearly out of the game at that point and it was obvious to you.

Best bet... apologize, you lost your cool. Did he screw up? Most certainly, but it does not excuse your actions. Apologize, get over it, and move on. You likely don't want a legal argument over this, because they seldom, if ever, come out well.

Are you kidding me? He would have to PROVE ignorance, which would be difficult to do when he had been told by numerous refs more than once that he was shooting a dead man, and yet proceaded to do it more than once.

[Magglerock]

A life lesson I learned long ago. People who threaten with power rarely have the will or skill to use it.

You don't have a thing to worry about.

Oh so very, very true. Ack! The kid's father paints houses with the local liscencer! This isn't Diggstown.

[Lohman446]

Are you kidding me? He would have to PROVE ignorance, which would be difficult to do when he had been told by numerous refs more than once that he was shooting a dead man, and yet proceaded to do it more than once.

Fine.. but does your retaliation have any chance of claiming ignorance? Unless you lie of course

[Aslan]

Legal Advise

Fine.. but does your retaliation have any chance of claiming ignorance? Unless you lie of course

Okay, let me be your lawyer since Lohman has taken this kid's case...

The attorney for the plantiff asks you why you shot at this kid after you had been eliminated from the game. He goes on and on about your age and experience and expecting you to know better. Your reply, "In every paintball game I've ever played in prior to this particular incident, a player was only shot at when he was still in the game. Since the opposing player (the plantiff) continued to shoot at me...I logically assumed I was still in the game."

There...you win. If the law office of Lohman and Lohman then attacks you for yelling at the kid and using foul language not approriate for his age level when the kid probably just made a mistake because his mask was fogged up...your reply is, "my mask was also fogged up so I couldn't tell how old he was."

[Lohman446]

Okay, let me be your lawyer since Lohman has taken this kid's case...

The attorney for the plantiff asks you why you shot at this kid after you had been eliminated from the game. He goes on and on about your age and experience and expecting you to know better. Your reply, "In every paintball game I've ever played in prior to this particular incident, a player was only shot at when he was still in the game. Since the opposing player (the plantiff) continued to shoot at me...I logically assumed I was still in the game."

There...you win. If the law office of Lohman and Lohman then attacks you for yelling at the kid and using foul language not approriate for his age level when the kid probably just made a mistake because his mask was fogged up...your reply is, "my mask was also fogged up so I couldn't tell how old he was."

It was the firing of the marker. I don't know state laws, or how they pertain to using a projectile weapon - but in MI if I fire my gun at you, even if I miss, I have used deadly force, lawfully or unlawfully. Now, lets be serious in what I meant because I was a jerk when I originally posted. Nothings going to happen legally, because the police will laugh it off, but the idea that you should run and file a report... is not a good idea either. Apologize because its the right thing to do, it will keep there from being hard feelings. Expect an apology or two in return, if you don't get them, comfort yourself in having taken the high road.

[wanna-b-ballin']

well that doesnt matter. if you over shoot me with a talon 50 times, or a timmy 50 times, im still gonna be yelling in your face the same way.

its like comparing the difference between a .22 rifle and 30-06. sure the .22 is less powerfull. but you can still kill someone, same way.

overshooting is dangerous, no matter what kind of gun.




honestly, i wouldnt really worry. a minor assaulted you, you yelled, and either purposully let off some steam, or him shooting caused your fingers to hit the trigger.

i dont know about anybody else here, but i'd be more upset if i were over shot with the talon. you have to pump it each time, so if you get overshot by it, you know that the shooter is trying to be a prick. where as with a timmy, i'd still be upset, but you can actually put out some fire power with it, and light someone up.

[Aslan]

Overshot

I already told my story about being overshot...here's my three instances where I've overshot...

1) I snuck up on a guy who was hiding in some thick brush. I got within 6 feet of him and called him out. He argued with me that I shouldn't be able to call him out because I couldn't hit him through the brush...so I shot him 2-3 times. He then started firing back. As I jumped back to cover I yelled that he was out, that i had hit him. He stopped firing but didn't say anything. I fired another 5-6 rounds and he started yelling, "Okay, okay...you got me!"

2) I got in behind a couple guys that were holding down my team. I hit one of them with a couple shots to the head...and his partner turned around quick to return fire. I thought I shot him with a few shots, but I guess it was more like 6-7. He got irate about it and had some choice words for me...I just let it go.

3) In a recent game, I got behind a couple guys who were firing from a structure/shed/house thing. Since they didn't know I was there, I lit them up before they knew where it came from. One of the kids walked out with his gun in the air but the second came out with his gun low so I shot him 2-3 more times. The ref yelled to me to let him out.

Those are 3 I can remember anyway...and I don't think any are that serious..not like your incident.

[BobDoleIsMyHero]

Um well as I understand yelling at someone is not assault unless you threaten physical harm to then while yelling. so if you just said he was an idiot and used profanity there was no assault.

Also most people seem to think the the kid assaulted him. I don't know of any presedence setting cases for this, but i don't think shooting someone on a paintball field who is wearing a mask and has signed a waver can be considered assault. I maen really, isn't that why we go to the field? It is an expectation that you get shot while playing. I know he was out and got over shot but it is common to get shot while going to the dead box especially when newbies are at the field.

So the long and the short is that from my understanding neither of them assaulted the other. They both should apologize and hopefully as he plays more he will learn that lighting people up isn't as cool as it looks in those der der videos.

[shartley]

So I completly loose it. I completly forget that its a kid who has just overshot the hell out of me. I start yelling at this kid, cussing him out about overshooting. I lifted up my marker and vblast a volley at his bunker asking how the ___ he likes being overshot, as I quit shooting I yell at him that its a good clue you got someone when paint busts on them, they quit running, firing back, and are putting their barrel plug on. I can't even tell you how bad I cussed this guy out. Like I said I got so pissed that I just completly forgot time and place and went into rage mode.

Well the very instant this happened, I am walking back up to the top to pack up my gear and regretting loosing my cool that way. I felt so bad. In spite of what he did to instigate the situation by WAY overshooting me, it was totally wrong of me to act that way.

I am unsure as to whether I will be able to play there any more. I am also a bit worried about the legal threat. Is there honestly anything he can do?
I feel terrible about allowing my emotions to run away that way. I have already apologized to the the owner. I haven't had the opp. to talk to the kid and dad, and was advised not to even if I did.