Something I am just curious about more than anything else. I recently stumbled across a 6mm paintball gun. ITs a replica of a m9 pistol – fires bb’s and the afore related 6mm paintball guns. I know that normal paintball markers fire larger (66 cal I am guessing) rounds. Are the 6mm paintball guns universally accepted? Does anyone accept them? whats the story?
The whole paintball thing eludes me.
I mean, you can get a magic marker for what, 59 cents? Why not just run up to your “enemy” and make a dot on him/her? then run like hell? Sure would save a lot of money. And you have a much larger selection of colors.
Peace,
mangeorge
I like your idea Mangeorge. Make paintball a real sport by requiring people to put themselves at risk to “tag” an opponent.
I don’t think I could get into painball. It would violate everything I have learned and practiced about gun safety. I know they are designed for play but rest assured if I ever am forced to point a gun at someone it will not be for play.
kinoons
Do a search for “soft air”. The links do show teams for playing war games with them. Those guns use a 6mm plastic BB [not the regular 4.5mm copper BB]. I have not seen 6mm paintballs. I have seen 10mm paintballs which are commonly sold with blowguns.
mangeorge
It is called “fun”. People play war games. If they play modern war, they use toy guns because that’s how modern war is fought. If you wanted to play as a knife fighter and use a marking pen, they would let you. It’s just a game. You probably could find someone to play knife fighting with you.
So is taking good natured jabs at people who like to play war games.
You gotta admit, though, that the whole concept of paintball war is kinda funny.
I wonder where I can get a “Bowie” Magic Marker?
Peace,
mangeorge (Magic Markers don’t kill people, people…)
I have always been curious about (and I have even written about it in threads on this bulletin board) the fact that there are many people who violently decry the personal ownership of firearms but don’t have any problem with packing up the kiddies and going on a paintball ‘wargame’ outing or a session at the local ‘laser-tag’ arena. I realize that I am probably some kind of bonehead Neanderthal who is insensitive to the modern politically correct way of thinking, so help me out here. Am I wrong or does this smack of hypocrisy?
I understand some of the responses already given about paintball ‘markers’, but even law enforcement officers use these ‘markers’ for training. One could make the argument that any game that simulates elimination of an opponent with a tool of some kind promotes undesirable habit patterns that are not conducive to real-life reactions to life-threatening situations.
Granted that ‘simulated war games’ are not good for our societal well-being, what recommendation could be made to deal with the proliferation of these activities? How do we change the public opinion that some guns are ‘bad’ (privately owned handguns, for instance) and other guns are ‘good’ (paintball guns, laser-tag guns, squirt guns, “spud guns”, etc.).
The problem for me is that even if I strongly agreed that there should be no private ownership of firearms, I could not be assured that unlawful ownership of firearms would end at the same time that lawful ownership would. Guns are a part of our national makeup, period. If the HCI fairy (no pun intended) could wave a magic wand and make all guns go away, the world would indeed be a safer place; however, reality dictates that crimianls in this country will have firearms in spite of my opinions or willingness to give up private ownership.
This is a thorny issue and one that will not be easily solved. I’m just a little perplexed about some people who are perpetuating the problem by ‘playing both ends from the middle’ as the saying goes.
wow, look at the hornets nest I sturred up…
My view on paintball is it is just a game of tag, but instead of running up to someone and touching them, you use a compressed air gun to use a projectile to mark them…yeah, I know, really fancy way to say ya shoot them.
Is it fun, yes. Should it be taken serously? No chance. I have played a few times, and I in no way felt the need to go hold up a bank or something there after. Its just a way to have fun, no more, no less.
You mean paintballs are intended for actual people? I thought they were a means of decorating trees, signs, and recently my work truck. The ones that hit my truck were a bright yellow color and at first we thought I had been egged, but we couldn’t find any eggshells. The odd part is that my truck was parked at the Post Office in the middle of about 20 others. Mine was the only one hit, but I have to assume that whoever did it was probably aiming for the guy that parks next to me, because I’m just too nice to have enemies, even ones armed only with paint. Okay, there may have been a few people I’ve pissed off over the years, but never intentionally. Well, maybe there have been just a few intentional… I think maybe I should go price Magic Markers.
http://www.warpig.com/paintball/tournament/skyball2000/gallery/index.shtml
Tournament paintball bears very little resemblance to wargames. It really is just tag on a bigger level.
I’d appreciate it if you could cite a study showing that ‘simulated war games’ are detrimental to society. I fail to see any connection between safe family entertainment and the decline of general society.
Why should the public opinion be changed? Firearms are lethal, squirt guns and paintball markers are both very safe if used according to basic guidelines.
My family (Mom, Dad, brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law) recently had a paintball outing in the Poconos.
The sociological implications of this outing never occured to me. It was something that just about everyone could do, was safe (the family football games this year featured a few broken bones and one dislocated jaw which required surgery), and was a chance for everyone to get together for a day of fun.
I was thinking it might be something to do with my son in a few years. Now, I don’t know about it. I don’t want to be teaching him one thing and showing him another.
Also, when I visit home next time maybe I should be packing!