Germany to Outlaw Paintball

I agree with the posters who say they`d rather have a dumbed-down, docile population sitting in front of computer screens all day than citizens strengthened by games like this.

I think it's official that this place has warped a lot of your minds. Especially when you start thinking paintball is going to galvanize the population into some kind of militia. It's getting harder and harder each day to take this place seriously. And now that something I loved and spent over a decade of my life dedicated too is attacked, some of the responses on here show there's a lot of people who have no concept of reality or are way the hell out there. But whatever war games, and TPTB!!! and other such non-sense

Originally posted by Skyfloating
I agree with the posters who say they`d rather have a dumbed-down, docile population sitting in front of computer screens all day than citizens strengthened by games like this.

Yeah sitting on conspiracy forums all day is way better than engaging in a physical activity, having a good time, and making new friends. Let's ban paintball everywhere and hand out ATS cards at all the paintball fields. We'll show 'em.

Let me correct you

Originally posted by Skyfloating
Once toy-guns (which is what paintball is) are outlawed players will simply move to bordering countries to play (czech republic, the netherlands, belgium, austria). So its ineffective in the first place.

Americans worry about harsh gun-laws being passed...thats nothing compared to Germany where even fake-guns are outlawed...

The reason they are classified as FIREARMS in places like Canada, Scandinavia, because they actually SHOOT. Whereas toy-guns do not. That is also why you need to be around 18 to purchase them.

I should also like to add, in going through training, we had a whole section on identifying toy guns, because of a tragic incident where a child was killed by some sort of police officer because he held a plastic dollar store gun... they really shouldnt play with replicas...

Also your comment on them being completely harmless, especially since you say you do not play, is GROSSLY inaccurate, let me tell you a story.
A good friend of mine was in a group with about 20 other girls on halloween a few years ago, when they were jumped by 5 guys with paintball guns, assaulted them for a long time shooting frozen paintballs at close range. One of her best friends got hit under the eye, totally destroyed it, and she wanted to become what I am, well, she cant now you need both eyes for law enforcement/military. And in losing her dreams she gave up and become a whore with no will to do anything...

I #ing wish I could have been there when it happened.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
In fact...if all nations held their wars in games instead of with real weapons, we`d be living in paradise.

*sigh* thatll always be the dream

reply to post by Ridhya


Sorry. I retract my statement that they`re "totally harmless".

Im pretty sure that in an official game-context and wearing protective gear, they`re harmless...right?

(If a youngster buys a bow-and-arrow for halloween and shoots it into someones eye we dont call for outlawing halloween costumes)

[edit on 8-5-2009 by Skyfloating]

reply to post by Skyfloating


Yep... if you want to outlaw guns and toy guns then you should outlaw wars as well.

You can't have it both ways.

I'm sorry, but this is getting ridiculous. Ban paintball and laser tag?

Germany needs to quit being such a nanny state and allow it's citizens to live a little. They're attacking everything BUT the problem! The problem starts at home, and I think that the German government is to blame for that, not enough measures to make sure that children in trouble get the help they need and deserve.

Germany, fess up. YOU screwed up, not "violent" sports. Just can't admit it.

(No diss to our Deutsche members, I love you all, just not your government, or any nanny government for that matter.)

Peace,
FK

Assuming some intense logical acrobatics I can understand the desire of the totally brain-dead to ban paintball and airsoft and pellet guns and other projectile launching devices. But laser tag? The best I can come up with for laser tag is that the ignorant fear their child being mistaken for a gun-toting criminal while playing laser tag in the park and being shot by the cops. But if a cop can't tell the difference between a kid aiming a gun at an individual out of hostility and a couple of kids running around a park playing a game maybe Germany should ban cops. Likewise if some kid decides to use a laser tag gun in a hostile and threatening manner he deserves to be put down either by his armed victim or by a cop.

No part of this desire to ban makes any sense whatsoever.

Ah crap, just another thing Germany will whine about to us allowing while it is illigal to do there, soon we'll have paintball tourists joining up with the drugs tourists and end up with stoned kids with paintball guns.

Thanks for nothing.

[edit on 8-5-2009 by Harman]

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


According to the current Discussion in German News Media, they want to ban it because it "teaches our youth that violence is legitimate".

This argument does not hold though. Any type of sports requires some exertion of "Violence" in the sense of skilled willpower and domination. Thats what games are all about. Thats why games are fun. We get to express our wilder nature without having to kill anyone.

Originally posted by Skyfloating

According to the current Discussion in German News Media, they want to ban it because it "teaches our youth that violence is legitimate".

You're right. Not only are sports teaching this "legitimacy of violence" but a whole slew of toys ranging from those little plastic army men to video games. Just about anything on television. Movies. History.

They'll have to ban 90% of existence. Imagine the enforcement problems. The internet grants them access to all sorts of media that justifies violence like He-Man, The A-Team, Transformers, Ducktales, Looney Tunes, the History Channel, etc..

No more playing Risk or even the card game War.

We'll have to burn any History or factual historical text right away.

The motivation of "these things promote violence" is exponentially more absurd than any rationale I would have assumed as the motivation for the ban.

I imagine when one child hits another during their toddler years the hitter will be promptly exiled and the hitee will be taken to re-education camp to forget what had happened so as not to spread the violence out to other toddlers.

I have a German friend whom I shall get to translate this page for me. I'll post it when she gets back to me, k.

Well they're still not harmless, I have been shot in the neck and I had a blue bruise for a week, my best friend got shot in the side from a foot away by an asshole who didnt follow the mercy rule and had a bruise the size of a baseball!

Im in no way advocating banning paintball I enjoy it myself but it should be confined to play areas (pay) and private property. It should be illegal to carry them around or use them just anywhere... like in my stated example above that is one of the worst cases I have ever heard. I think those #wads should have been charged with armed assault or whatever, a paintball gun is still a gun and ruining the poor girls life...
But unfortunately the police said there was not enough 'evidence' to arrest the boys despite 20+ witnesses, and they all got off scott free... yet if they had used a Glock and gotten the same results Im sure they would be all over them.
One of the reasons I decided to become a police.

Anyone ever see the movie "Running Man"?

The question that comes up is how far we are going to go with games.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
According to the current Discussion in German News Media, they want to ban it because it "teaches our youth that violence is legitimate".

Then they should also ban all materials that record the history of Germany, especially how one of their own nearly accomplished global domination through the use of most extreme violence.

The history of Germany does far more to legitimize violence than paint balls and laser tag.

Originally posted by ravenshadow13
I have a sad story, and it's completely true.

A good friend of mine was playing painball with some of her friends, maybe 5 or 6 years ago. They were playing paintball with her father. He was hit with a paintball, it triggered a heart attack, and he died. He was in his mid 40s.

So... I know it's "fun"... but... it can be dangerous.

A classic example of trying to use a "one of" story to impose views on many others. Just like the British, just like the Australians, and now just like the Germans. Surely, anyone can see that this person was living on borrowed time and if a paintball didn't trigger his heart attack (if it actually did), then the next stress in the guy's life would have. What if it ended up being caused by sex with his wife, instead?????

Oh, and as for your location "USA, sadly", my answer is simply "leave, quickly".

[edit on 5/8/2009 by centurion1211]

Originally posted by Welfhard
I have a German friend whom I shall get to translate this page for me. I'll post it when she gets back to me, k.

Alright...or any other news-page for that matter.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
Once toy-guns (which is what paintball is) are outlawed players will simply move to bordering countries to play (czech republic, the netherlands, belgium, austria). So its ineffective in the first place.

Americans worry about harsh gun-laws being passed...thats nothing compared to Germany where even fake-guns are outlawed...

Well, we don't want it to get as far as the Germans, and other Europeans allowed the dictatorial laws to be passed, and you seriously think that outlawing Americans from owning real guns is less important than outlawing paintball?

We don't want to lose our ability to own, and bear arms to defend our families and ourselves. You guys can always continue playing online games, and computer games similar to paintball, and with the new technology coming, you will be able to enjoy paintball in 3d without leaving your home, but outlawing guns cannot be replaced.

But hey this shows the extend of Socialism, and what they keep trying to do to you guys. Pretty soon they will continue trying to supress individualism more. Socialist politicians won't stop until even similar shooting online games, and pc games are also outlawed at the least.



[edit on 8-5-2009 by ElectricUniverse]

reply to post by Skyfloating


OK I have a partial translation of the German article. More to come.

German Government wants to prohibit Paintball Games

Violent games like paintball are to be prohibited in future according to the German Government. This is one of the regulations, which the coalition has agreed on, to narrow the weapons law. Additionally stricter controls of weapons owners are planned.

[Picture caption] A player at the paintball world-championship in England. In Germany games, in which attendants hunt each other, are to be prohibited.

According to (newspaper) reports, the grand coalition has agreed on a strengthening of the weapons law.
Socialist’s (SPDs ) and Union’s (CDUs) home affairs specialists agreed with the Minster of interior Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) on a checklist with revisions /changes, according to Berliner Zeitung and “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”.

Thus hunting games like paintball and Laserdrome are to be prohibited and breaches against it are to be punished by a fine up to 5000 €. In paintball, also known as “ Gotcha”, the players hunt each other with paint balls and in Laserdrome they hunt with laser pistols. “Thereby killing is simulated”, reasoned the acting/assistant/representative chairman of the Union faction Wolfgang Bosbach (CDU) the planned interdiction (to the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”).

Btw, zeitung = newspaper.

[edit on 9-5-2009 by Welfhard]

Banning target practice, brilliant.