MassCops - Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network, A Mass Police Web Portal

Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network

Massachusetts Police News, Information and Discussions on MassCops

Pages: 1

Main Page Need for Paintball Law Debated
(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: resqjyw0

By Ira Kantor/Daily News correspondent
GateHouse News Service
Tue Nov 06, 2007, 11:58 PM EST

BOSTON - Paintball is one of the world's safest sports.

That's what James ``Smiley'' Luth, paintball facilities manager at the Habitat for Soccer and Sports in Uxbridge says. Just because the sport uses guns to defeat opponents, Luth, 25, believes the sport has an unwarranted bad reputation, particularly with adults.

``There are people who just really despise it and it's not right,'' he said.

Luth is among paintball enthusiasts who say the sport's credibility may be further compromised if a bill re-filed by state Sen. Michael Morrissey, D-Quincy, passes.

The bill would prevent anyone under age 18 from having or shooting a paintball gun in public without adult supervision unless he or she has a sporting or hunting license. Violators would face fines up to $100 and have their guns confiscated by police.

The bill, which goes before a joint Public Safety Committee for a public hearing today, does not target minors who fire guns on supervised paintball fields.

Morrissey said the bill was prompted by complaints from Quincy residents about paintballers vandalizing their properties.

``Taking a (paintball) gun and shooting a side of a building is relatively harmless except if you're the property owner and have to pick up the mess afterward,'' he said. ``People responsible in using the guns are not the problem, it's people who are irresponsible that are the problem.''

The sport attracts children as young as 10, who can play when a parent signs an insurance waiver.

Jon McEwan, a referee and salesman at Fox 4 Paintball in Upton, said the bill would be useful in preventing minors from using paintball guns for purposes besides gaming.

``If you're going to be using it you should be supervised,'' he said. ``Most people that are using them on public land are not taking all the safety considerations into effect.''

Luth said the potential penalties facing minors would not stop them from paintball mischief.

``All kids have to do is borrow their friend's gun or someone else's gun that was purchased online,'' said Luth. ``Just having a $100 fine and a slap on the wrist is not sufficient.''

Area police officials said the bill would prevent local houses and street signs from being splattered by paintballs. But they had no complaint about paintball fields, which they said did a great job of ensuring player safety.

``Minors shouldn't be allowed to run around all willy-nilly with guns,'' said Upton Police Sgt. Alan Cyr. ``They should be on a supervised paintball field.''

Milford Police Chief Thomas O'Loughlin said the bill is important because it also bans minors from using air rifles in public. O'Loughlin said certain air rifles resemble real guns, making them indistinguishable to police officers.

``To be in harm's way simply because someone believes you have a weapon and are trying to protect themselves causes a real potential for conflict,'' he said.

Michael O'Neill, co-founder of Baystate Paintball & Airsoft in Bellingham, said adult supervision is important.

But he said the bill's license provision is unnecessary.

``If you're going to make sure somebody has a license for a paintball gun, then you're going to have to have people have licenses for baseball bats and footballs,'' O'Neill said.

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x9490902

Quote:

The bill would prevent anyone under age 18 from having or shooting a paintball gun in public without adult supervision unless he or she has a sporting or hunting license.

The only way a kid could get a hunting license under 18 (15-17) is with the parent writing a letter saying they approve of their kid getting one and if they have a hunter ed card certifying the child successfully completed one. At least that's the way its supposed to be. Some people at Walmart in charge of selling the licenses don't have a clue. I don't even know why they threw in Sporting licenses in that sentence when a minor can't even get one. At least going by there not being a Resident Minor Sporting license class. They said that this would only pertain to minors in public. Another article where they can't get their facts straight. At least a boost in hunting license sales will come from this if passed.

Posted by: SOT

I personally think paintball is one of the worst "sports" ever. What does it do, teach a kid that it is OK to point a gun at someone. Dumb.

Posted by: resqjyw0

Quote:

Originally Posted by SOT

What does it do, teach a kid that it is OK to point a gun at someone. Dumb.

And that is what starts bad habits in regards to safety if they were ever to get into hunting or target shooting that involves real guns. Not only would it probably result in bad habits but the nature of the child would most likely be more violent towards other people because they shoot other people and in the end everything is OK except for some bruises, nobody dies or gets severely injured and reinforces that mentality. They continue to have that mentality and one day somebody will get severely injured or get killed.

Posted by: vaspo

Actually I think that paintball is a good sport. When played properly, on a field, with supervision. I love to play it and it is a good way to get out and to keep active. There is also a huge community based around the sport. There are differnet ways that the game can be played. Its all in the eyes of the beholder, but i challenge you to go out and to try it if you haven't it, hell you never know, you may enjoy it.

Posted by: Killjoy

Quote:

That's exactly why we should ban video games, airsoft, toy guns, toy weapons, or anything that could possibly be interpreted as a weapon. Furthermore children should be subjected to constant sensitivity training, community "feeling sessions" where violent emotions and feelings can be discussed and dealt with, fingerpainting, group therapy and hypnosis. Also any children who show any "aggressive" tendencies should be culled out of the classrooms and subjected to extensive psychologicial therapy and mood suppressing medications.

Of course we already do a lot of that, and its done nothing but increase the amount of violence in schools. Bottling emotions is no substitution for blowing off a little steam. No one got stabbed or shot in my schools; once in a while there was a fight and that was it. Now we suppress emotions so much that when a kid explodes its years of pent-up rage.

When I was kid I played with toy guns, set off firecrackers, and got in fights at school. When I was a teenager I rode dirt bikes and skateboards, played paintball, shot .22's and BB guns, and was somehow able to graduate high school, serve in the military, get a college degree and become a police officer. I must really be screwed up.

I think its better to let kids get a little aggression out through sports, marital arts or games like paintball. Its a relatively benign environment to be competitive, have some fun and talk some smack. I think this law stinks and its just another excuse from the liberal left to try to neuter our society and raise teens to be metrosexual lemmings.

Posted by: screamineagle

Quote:

Originally Posted by Killjoy

I think its better to let kids get a little aggression out through sports, marital arts or games like paintball. Its a relatively benign environment to be competitive, have some fun and talk some smack. I think this law stinks and its just another excuse from the liberal left to try to neuter our society and raise teens to be metrosexual lemmings.

Marital arts: the practice of pummelling the bejesus out of your spouse.

Posted by: pahapoika

paintball is tough. most folks are wiped out at the end of the day , but it's a good feeling.

everyone i've seen has a good time and it beats having them sit in front of a damn tv, eating junk and getting fat

Posted by: SOT

I actually think airsoft is worse. Most kids treat them as toys and don't follow any safety rules with regards to eye protection.

That being said, I remember the good old days of BB gun wars with heavy denim and motorcycle helmets....man we were BAD ASS!

I just want to clarify, I don't think there needs to be a "law" about paintball. I just think it's "dumb". There does need to be a law about dumb parents and dumb kids that do things with their paintball guns, maybe some caning or public flogging or something.

Posted by: mpd61

I agree with SOT and everybody else...
So QUINCY residents have a problem with VANDALISM. Hmmm I know, let's push for a STATE law that will punish kids statewide for what some dumbasses in Quincy are doing.

Posted by: SOT

She can paint my balls anytime!

Posted by: resqjyw0

I don't understand what a hunting license has anything to do with paintball. The license is irrelevant to the issue at hand.

I'm not really for or against paintball. I see the pluses and minuses in it. I've stated some of the minuses and I won't contest some of the pluses that others have stated. Personally, I never got into it because growing up my father was dead against it because, like what SOT said, it says its OK to point a gun at someone. I have no reason to get into it now. If I want to go shoot something, I'll grab a real gun and put some rounds down range. Exercise, bird hunting encompasses a lot of walking if you let it. Or go check out some potential new spots for deer or turkey hunting.

When people can possess a muzzleloading rifle/shotgun and everything that makes it go boom without an FID, why put a license restriction on paintball guns on minors? I don't see much difference between someone with an FID buying the blackpowder/pyrodex, primers/percussion caps, and bullets then giving them to someone without an FID (minors included) and someone 18 or over buying the CO2 for a paintball gun and giving it to a minor.

If they want to do anything about vandalism with paintball guns, stiffen penalties more than what they are planning on. A one hundred dollar fine isn't a whole lot to deter people. The only reason why people worry about a hundred dollar speeding ticket is insurance or they are a drug addict and can barely pay for their drugs as it is. Otherwise almost noone could care less about a $100 ticket. And confiscating the gun? Great. The PD could earn a few bucks at their next auction on that one. But all it does is temporarily inconvenience the violator. They can go out and buy a new paintball gun for less than $100 if they wanted.

Posted by: Rob87

Sorry to bump this, but I felt I should respond. :P

Paintball is easily one of the safest sports around. If you go to a qualified field to play, safety is stressed constantly, and the refs have no patience whatsoever for idiots who can't follow the rules.

I disagree that paintball teaches you to point guns at people. You don't play paintball with guns; you play paintball with paintball markers. (Yes, that's the correct term.)

Anyone who can't distinguish between a paintball marker and a real gun is doomed intellectually to start with.

I do think there needs to be a law governing paintball use, as serious injury can occur to innocent bystanders. (Paintballs break on contact on pretty much all body parts except the eyes themselves.) I don't think paintball should be played in residential areas. I think any paintball equipment being used to vandalise private property should have some serious charges to it.

I'm getting really sick and tired of hearing stories about moron kids ruining the otherwise wonderful sport for the rest of us because they lack judgment.

ma police, boston ma police, massachusetts police, massachusetts police, mass state police, mass police, ma, mass, massachusetts, massachusetts, massachutes, massachusetts law, massachusetts polece, police, officer, police officer, cops, police gear, law enforcement, police duty gear, state police, sheriff, law, police supply, police agency directory, police agency, police department, traffic officer, police dept, state trooper, dispatcher, massachusetts county sheriff, massachusetts sheriff, massachusetts department of corrections, ma doc, doc, dept of corrections, police information, civil service, ma civil service, massachusetts crime, police training, police academy, ma police academy, massachusetts officers, masscop, masscops, mpa, bpa, ibpoa, police association, massachusetts police news, massachusetts crime news, mass most wanted, police career information, police patrol, police administration, police books, crime scene training, police discussion, crime discussions, cops

About MassCops, the home for Massachusetts law enforcement.

The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network opened in 1998 and is now a part of the New England Police Network The site is a pro-police discussion forum intended for sworn police officers and civilian law enforcement officials as well as those interested in pursuing a career in law enforcement here in Massachusetts.

The goal of The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network is to provide an informal network of law enforcement officials here in Massachusetts for educational and informational purposes.

The forum covers many topics such as Police Related News Articles, Agency & Profession Discussions, Police Training as well as Law Enforcement Career Information.

The Massachusetts Law Enforcement Network and The New England Police Network (NEPN) and it's network sites are privately owned websites/domains and are not affiliated with or endorsed by any government association or agency.

MassCops (masscops.com) and (masscop.com) are privately owned are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Massachusetts Coalition of Police (masscop.org)

3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 49 50 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108