a premptive strike agianst airsoft abusure

[Captain G.H.O.S.T]

yes i think that's true. but keeping the limit to responsible 16+ years old for OPs should help. as for the legal issue in the northwest I hate seeing little kiddies in stores asking their parents for the airsoft guns when they use them later to play around the public.

[Sedius]

no matter how you cut it there is still going to be someone of ANY AGE mess around with it or use one in a heist or shoot some kid in the eye. No matter what age, sex, race, religion, or love of the airsoft game is going to change that. Everyone has the capacity to mess something up for the rest of us. So no matter what we do there are going to be cracks and grooves that are used. I mean look thru the ages probhibition...... underage drinking, weed, anything fun will be done without thought to consequences.

[Sleepy]

Somehow, I get the feeling I'm at least partially responsible for this...

Generating a list, and distributing it to retailers, is so large and grandiose measure as to be ineffective. Theres a little tourist-trap in sisters where I bought my first springers. theres thousands of shops like that. Not to mention the issues with first gathering the names of those who use replicas in an illegal manner. and, as Gunny said, repeat after me: Libel. REPEAT AFTER ME!

The best way to prevent our sport from being marginalized is to work directly with/against lawmakers to encourage legislation that protects our rights as enthusiasts while doing what it can to prevent these crimes in the first place, including more thorough and harsh punishment of retailers that sell replicas to minors, regardless of how the replica looks. Theres a can of flat black Krylon in my garage that I could spray on my buddies cheap AEP. Give me an hour. (Aside: Who knows, maybe that'll drive CYMA and Cybergun out of business. Two birds, eh?) Fancy warning labels don't actually do anything, if cigarettes are any indication.

There also needs to be certain measures taken against those who supply replicas to minors who use them in the commission of a crime. Similar to Contributing Alcohol To A Minor.

While I acknowledge the gun-groups that are attempting to protect airsoft, there needs to be a group whose specific dedication is to defense of airsofters. Gunny, I'm looking in your direction...

[KA-BAR]

sedius being as this is your second post ever ill be nice. it is our responsibility to police our own community. the age limit to buy a airsoft replica is 18. kids have figured a way around that buy getting parents to buy airsoft for them , and parents are retarded enuff to break down and buy them just to shut thier whinny lil asshat of a kid up cuase they just want them to shut the hell up. now with that bieng said...we as a community do not have to capitulate to these kids, and have thier soccer moms drop them off at our OP's so that we can baby sit them. that aint my job, and that is not why i play airsoft.

now we can continue the chain by allowing people that we know are not allowed to have these replicas by law, amoungst us in our community. we propogate this by the very action of condoneing minors with airsoft replicas, just because mommy and daddy say its okay and we get a signed waiver( AND HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE BEFORE THE ISSURANCE CARRIER THAT COVERS THE APL WONT JUST FINALLY SAY, SCREW YOU GUYS IF YOU CANT CONFORM TO WHAT THE LAWMAKERS ARE PASSING THEN WE WONT COVER YOU ANYMORE!).....i dont care what your mommy and daddy think, and niether does the police in that split second they have before they blow your pea brains out cause you are running around your apts. in gresham doing your best rambo impressions.

i say we get onboard with lawmakers and legislators on these issuse, and show them that we can control what goes on within our community and actually make and effect on the public in a good way or guess what my friends...we wont be playing airsoft anymore.


wow, charging the parents of the offender with "contributing to the deliquency of a minor" .... that sounds like such a good idea i am surprized it is not in effect. that type of legislation is EXACTLY what this community needs....parents that are held accountable!





KA-BAR speaks truth

[DMZ]

create a list of namesof the people who are using airsoft guns in illegal ways.

Sounds like Schindler's list.

[MetraDirty]

But if AP began restricting younger players, I think we would be missing an important opportunity to give these players an environment in which they can learn constructive and responsible use of airsoft replicas.

Quoted for truth.

Besides,
if the younger crowd couldn't participate with the community,
they'd just find another place to play.

Some do, and it worries me.

[Reese]

There is only ONE way of fighting the bad repuation that airsoft seems to be acquiring, and that's by providing our own information. We work with local government and law enforcement all the time to try to help airsoft's image in the Northwest.

Also, in regard to upping the age limit of AP games to 18, this would be a bad move in my opinion. Upping the age limit would not help the sport, it would hurt it.

Rather than provide a positive environment for young airsofters to participate and learn, we instead would push them away. This would almost guarantee a higher number of "backyard skirmishes" and encounters between law enforcement and airsoft.

I've always liked how AP provided a venue for young airsofters to hang out with responsible (in most cases) adults, who can teach them how to work as a team, respect proper gun safety, and BS around a campfire. We have quite a few former airsofters from our community currently serving in the armed forces. I would like to think that their time spent with us benefited them.

[Catch22]

There are alot of responsible player under 18 and plenty of players over 18 that aren't responsible. I don't think it's fair to put all the blame for bad things in airsoft on the kids.

While I wouldn't mind an ocassional over 18 game, I'd hate too see all AP games go that way.

[CommonSnipe]

I see no reason to limit our games to 18+, we have many wonderful players under the age of 18. Besides since when has war been a 18+ activity. Look at just about any war through out history, there are always children involved on at least one side or the other. I grant you that usually 50% of the combatants aren't under 18, but children do participate, especially in third world counties. Just because the U.S. no longer allows people under 18 to serve doesn’t mean everyone has that same policy.

[yandle]

Although they do not come in great numbers, there are active members of the AP community that represent airsoft in a constructive manner. Denying them the right to play with a group that they successfully have been playing with for months - if not years- seems a bit drastic. There are members that are 18+ that do not promote airsoft this way, for instance a certain individual that borrowed a rifle without permission at the last scapoose game. Age doesn't unnecessarily mean that anyone has greater common sense or acts any more mature than a member under the age of 18.

[vortex]

yes i think that's true. but keeping the limit to responsible 16+ years old for OPs should help. as for the legal issue in the northwest I hate seeing little kiddies in stores asking their parents for the airsoft guns when they use them later to play around the public.

you guys make a very good point the canadian laws in some places arwe you have to be 18 plus to buy a rifle if you dont look 18 you get id and that means 2 pieces of id, our age limit for playing on the fields is 15 as long as they have a signed not from there parents. We ask them also to leave a phone number on the permission forum, so that we cn call there parents and verify that they have signed the permission slip.

Even with buying airsoft stuff from other ppl the seller can ask for id as well most of us if we see a 14 15 or 16 year old even 17 we will not buy from them because they might have stolen the replica from another player etc.

example this one guy down in kelowna he kept getting in these rare airsoft guns and all of us were trying to findout were he was getting them from i saw him selling a sl9 so i asked him how much he wanted for it at the same time my buddys sl9 was missing but the guy who was trying to ssell it to me stole the gun from my buddy and tried to ell it to me. How does that story end banned from the fields banned from the boards and charged for posseion of stolen property

[KA-BAR]

i did not suggest denying anyone to play, what i am suggesting is a division of the league....ala minor leagues and major leagues....kids will still be in the APL, just in the pee wee league till they have shown that they are capable of bearing the responsibility....hell there were minors on EATF that were shinning examples of what every 15 yr old shoud be...or so i thought, then he asshatted off the freeway.

i am by no means saying we should ostrazize them, just put stonger and stricter rules up.


KA-BAR out

[yandle]

The "elitest" factor has to be thrown in. How many older players are going to want to show up to a game that's age group is under 18?; taking into consideration that most older members find players under the age of 18 to be immature. Leading to at least a partial ostrasization of the younger community.

[Bubba]

KA-BAR, are you suggesting splitting the league into under 18 games and over 18 games? Because that would have almost the same effect as barring all players under 18. I see neither as a viable option.

[DMitri]

create a list of namesof the people who are using airsoft guns in illegal ways.

Sounds like Schindler's list.

Do... You actually..... Know that story?