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Paintball, like everything
else, has its detractors. There are those who see paintball as a violent
and politically incorrect past time. They couldn't be farther from the
truth.
Many writers will tell you
about what paintball is. I'm going to tell you what paintball ISN'T.
PAINTBALL ISN'T VIOLENT
To the casual observer: we carry "guns" and "shoot" people, but are those
two things really violent? Violence in today's society destroys lives. The
very foundational rules of paintball seeks to limit personal injury:
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Paintball markers are restricted to low velocities.
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Players must wear protective eye wear. The use of eye wear
SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR PAINTBALL, is strictly enforced.
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Close range shooting of an opponent is discouraged and players find
this type of behaviour "bad form".
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No physical contact between player is allowed. (Other than
celebratory "high fives" after the successful completion of a game.)
These four things show that paintballers are not out to hurt each other.
PAINTBALL ISN'T MOCK
WAR, NOR IS IT A METAPHOR FOR WAR
At first glance it may not seem this way because scenario games, revolving
around historic battles and campaigns, are popular. This is not the
industry's or players' way of glorifying war. It is simply playing "make
believe". Many of the organizers of these events use the scenario to
proclaim the gallantry shown by our fighting men and women. No one who
plays paintball would relish going to war. Other than the combat veteran,
the paintballer knows how quickly your luck will run out when projectiles
start flying. If anything, paintball gives you a sense of your own
venerability and mortality.
Durty Dan Sez:
Having witnessed the sheer, abject destruction on the modern battlefield,
I know that paintball is as close to war as board gaming is.
PAINTBALL IS NOT BAD FOR
KIDS
Providing the safety equipment fit them properly, I have nothing against
people under the "legal age of consent" playing paintball. (With parental
permission, that is.) In fact, paintball just may teach kids some
important life skills. Winning doesn't matter, race/creed/age/religion
doesn't matter, respect for authority, safety, and determined effort
brings reward. Best of all, it teaches them to see a loss, not as failure,
but as a learning experience.
PAINTBALL IS NOT
DANGEROUS
The safety equipment is designed to withstand multiple impacts from
paintballs that are traveling far above the industry safe standard. (In
other words they hold up over and about the "worst case scenario" like all
safety equipment should.) Few people have been injured playing paintball.
Accident statistics show that paintball has less injuries than bowling!
PAINTBALL ISN'T TRAINING
PEOPLE FOR THE OVERTHROW OF THE GOVERNMENT
We're not a bunch of paramilitary commandos. We are not using paintball to
train ourselves in military tactics. In fact, military tactics don't seem
to work in paintball. The reason is that military tactics require a highly
disciplined group of people, that's not paintballers. We are a large
collection of fierce individualists, and we don't take orders very well.
Durty Dan Sez:
Some would point out that paintball is used to train military and special
police units, to counter this statement. Well, it doesn't counter what I
just said. Paintball is used as an AUGMENTATION to EXISTING training.
Paintball in itself cannot train you to be a soldier, but it can be used
to further expand a TRAINED soldier's education.
PAINTBALL ISN'T TRAINING
PEOPLE TO KILL, NOR DOES IT MAKE PEOPLE "GET USED TO" SHOOTING SOMEONE
It's only a game. Shooting someone is more representative of a tag.
Besides paintball is the ONLY team sport where you can LEGALLY eliminate
your opponent from play. Best of all no one gets hurt.
Durty Dan Sez:
However, I'm not going to sugar coat it for you, some players do refer to
eliminations as "kills". It's just an EXPRESSION. Comedians "kill" you,
that can hardly be a metaphor for murder. The basic thing is that
paintballers are NOT thinking, "I'm killing this guy," when they shoot
somebody.
PAINTBALL DOES NOT
PROMOTE VIOLENT TENDENCIES IN PEOPLE
In fact, psychologists have seen it to be a catharsis. It is a safe and
healthy way to blow off some of the everyday tensions in life. Violent
tendencies? I have absolutely NO tendencies towards ANYTHING after a day
of paintball. Well, no that's wrong. I actually have tendencies towards a
hot bath and a warm bed!
PAINTBALL ISN'T TEACHING
PEOPLE HOW TO USE FIREARMS
Paintball markers share the same basic features with firearms. Both
markers and firearms have triggers, grips, barrels, sears, bolts, hammers
and sights. However, you cannot learn how to use real firearms by using
paint markers. Think of it this way, how much can you learn about a
computer by using a pocket calculator? There are paint markers which
emulate the weight, design and operation of firearms, but they are
specifically designed for police and military training.
Durty Dan Sez:
They are not available to the general paintball playing public. The ones
that are available have been modified to better suit paintball. The design
parameters between paintball and training are totally different. What
would be good for a tactical training emulator isn't necessarily good, or
even desired, in a paint marker.
I hope, after reading this,
that you can see that paintball is a harmless and fun game. Over one
million people in North America play paintball. Not one of them is a
violent, warmongering, psychotic mass murderer. Paintball has been around
since 1981 and no one has been able to link violent crime DIRECTLY AS A
RESULT OF PLAYING PAINTBALL. Why? Because there is no direct relation.
Written by:
Durty Dan the "World's Most Famous Recreational Player"
Play
hard! Play fast! Play safe!
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