Would you give your 13-year-old son an Airsoft gun?
My son is asking me for an Airsoft gun. We live in a close-in suburb of DC, of medium density. He wants to use it to play with other boys in the neighborhood.
I have included a poll to summarize viewpoints but I would appreciate posts giving your opinion.
My son is a pretty responsible boy and respects safety concerns, but nevertheless sometimes 13-year-old boys get carried away. I have played paintball a couple of times with him but that is done under very controlled, supervised circumstances. What he has in mind is more of a free-for-all around the neighborhood. My main concern is lapses of judgment, or “collateral damage” since there are a lot of kids of all ages around the neighborhood. My understanding is that Airsoft hits are generally safe and painful at worst, but at my age I’m starting to say, “You’re gonna put somebody’s eye out with that!”
I am not anti-gun but I have never had any interest in them either. (My only experience with REAL guns is when a friend invited me to join him trap shooting.) I am not concerned that this activity would lead him to take an interest in guns, nor would I be especially alarmed if such an interest developed. So attempts to have a debate about “everything about guns is bad” vs. “God gave us the Second Amendment” are going to be non-starters for this discussion.
I played with all kinds of guns growing up including rubber band and paint ball. After I grew out of that phase, late teens, I have not had any interest in real guns at all. Although I never really did growing up either. It was just an activity and a chance to play with friends.
Also according to wiki:
“The largest review of airsoft eye injuries found no case of loss of vision from an airsoft eye injury.”
We preferred SuperSoakers for our gun play, but mostly because our block had about twelve kids that were five or six years younger than our own, and keeping them out of the line of fire would have been freaking impossible. So, everybody got a SuperSoaker at the block party.
And, I would never have bought my son an AirSoft so I could play with him because at age 13, he would have kicked my ass so hard it would have been humilating.
Instead of comparing which injury is worse…why don’t we just try to eliminate the injuries? Also, who the hell plays paintball without eye protection anyway? Or do kids these days run around neighbourhoods playing paintball with absolutely no gear?
This isn’t like climbing trees, where injuries are an unfortunate side effect. Airsoft guns are practically begging to hurt someone.
We had a recent police draw down when someone was waving one of these airsoft guns around outside a bar. Poor lighting. Late at night. Idiot pointed it at the cops. Lucky no one got shot.
If you get the kid one of these teach him responsibility. Pointing one at an armed police officer very well may result in tragic consequences.
Speaking of frequency of incidents… has anyone ever actually killed or injured him/herself by falling on scissors while running?
When I was a kid, I heard the admonition so often that I assumed it was the most common form of injury in the world, right after being hit by a train when your sneaker gets caught in the railroad track and eating Halloween candy with a razor blade in it, but I’ve never heard of anyone who actually did it.
Just BTW my son has done some range shooting at summer camp with a .22.
I’m not sure I would go that far, but it should be noted that the whole point of Airsoft guns is to shoot at other people (also true of paintball, not true of shooting a .22 at a range).
A cheap spring-fired pistol from a sporting goods store will fire a .12 g bb at about 200-250 feet per second. It stings a little at close range, anything more than 10 feet you can barely feel it. I’d personally still make them wear eye protection, but I’m known to be quite fond of being able to see. An eye hit might not blind, but I’d bet it would hurt like a mofo and probably scratch the cornea.
A more expensive electric airsoft rifle will fire a .20g pellet at anywhere between 350-400 fps. Inside of 15 feet, it will easily break skin (I know, I’ve had to have pellets dug out of my skin). I don’t even want to know what they’d do to an eye.
If it’s a cheap springer, sure. If anybody’s using anything more powerful I’d say no. Also, I’d lay down a ground rule that if they remove/paint over the orange tip or do anything to modify the gun they’re grounded until they qualify for social security.
Go to the local airsoft field when they are holding a family day. Those are the days for newbs to get out and learn what the sport is about. Airsoft is not soft. The hits sting and can leave a welt. It is physical, you will run, you will sweat, you will fall, and you will get hurt. That’s part of the game, It Is NOT for WIMPS. Also Airsoft is about HONOR and HONESTY.
You keep your own score, you call your own hits and you when and where to shoot as well as when and where NOT to shoot. The airsoft community, when you get into the more proficient levels, is very tightknit. Cheaters, liars, and military posers are not tolerated. Veterans , specially combat veterans, of any age are respected.
BTW, I am a full-blown airsoft junky. field medic, water warden and SAFETY NAZI.
My kid had several airsoft guns - pistols and automatic rifles. I enjoyed shooting them myself. I used them to keep the woodpeckers off my chimney cap. He outgrew them by mid-late teens, and doesn’t have any particular interest in fire arms now. He did build his own wrist-mounted flamethrower, though.
I’m not a tremendous fan of either airsoft or paintball. IMO, they Foster rather too casual an attitude towards pointing things that shoot at other people, while at the same time teaching all manner of bad habits that will get you killed in a real gunfight. They have a place in force on force training, but that place is very specialized.
Doc Dodge, I know you’re new here, but it’s against the rules to insult anyone in this forum (IMHO). Only forum you can insult other members in is the BBQ Pit, so please take it there, next time, if you want to call someone names.
