Chris Schneck

Talk about shock and awe, if anyone wishes to see the sport of paintball move away from being associated with violence and backyard guerilla action, Tippmann and the US Army have a surprise for you.

Say hello to U.S. Army Paintball and all its cheesy glory.

Ill start off by saying that I am Canadian and I have nothing against the USA or the U.S. Army.  But as an avid paintball player I am against anything that might expedite the regulation of use and or sale of paintball equipment, or tarnish the already somewhat poor image of paintball. The only press paintball seems to receive is when a bunch of idiots do a drive-by shooting using paintball markers or when property is vandalized. I cant see slapping a military endorsement on a paintball marker helping our games chances of establishing itself as a competitive sport.

If anything, introducing military endorsed paintball markers could turn fields across north america into recruiting grounds and training centres for future candidates. For those who aren’t organized or motivated enough to join a scout troop or cadets, you can skip all the valuable training and grooming to be a responsible citizen and jump into commando mode with your army endorsed marker and be one smaller step away from picking up the real thing.

Currently there are few regulations or laws denying minors access to paintball markers, rules are somewhat relaxed about how paintball gear is transported  and where it is used. Is this new union between paintball and military a step away from our current freedom? Will the U.S. Armies endorsement confirm what our sports antagonists have been arguing?

I cant say I’m a saint in this regard, I go into the woods with my camouflage and T9, but I’m also 30 and know the difference between a game and a lifestyle. For the most part I think the minors who aren’t eligible to join the armed forces know this difference as well, but its the unknowable margin of those who cant differentiate who concern me. Those affluent north american children who’s parents don’t pay enough attention and just buy their children off on their birthdays and Christmas. It’s the people who don’t really want to play paintball, don’t respect paintball as a sport and ultimately have no respect for others who will be our downfall.

Now put a product made by the largest name in paintball and endorsed by the largest name in conquest into the hands of that minority of people who aren’t wanted by our sport and the buzzards start to circle around the corpse that was our freedom.