Proposed national airsoft association:

[Orwell]

Found here. I think it's interesting. Not all of their requirements as they sit are necessarily ours, or good, but it's a start. I think it would be a sore mistake to not put Matt or someone similarly minded in the list of Senators. Let's make it happen. Maybe nothing good will come of this, but I can see this becoming a valuable national standard. We're always looking for ways to branch out, right?

[Beran]

This has been tried several times in the past, and has never worked out (at least not in the pacnw). There is always a large group of players that does not want the level of authority that something like this entails.

[code789]

pay $100 to be the first lifetime membership of an empty list, and the last/first announcement was last year....makes logical sense to put matt in it

[Farmer]

I think it has major potential to legitimatize airsoft in the eyes of, if not the majority, at least to more people and groups then currently, to see it as a sport, and not just some punk kids running playing "army man".

I am going to be reading every thing I can about it tonight. Interwebs search ftw!!!

[Matt]

Meh, you don't want me. I'm like an absentee landlord. I haven't been active hardly at all in the last 4 years.

Airsoft has been more than a "backyard hobby" here in Oregon for a long time.

The entire premise of this dude's argument is flawed. You cannot compare Airsoft to football. We're shooting each other with replica assault rifles. Replicas of deadly weapons. We're not going to have mainstream consumers (including minors) competing at killing each other, except in video games. That's just the way it is. Society will never accept it. That's why we have a hobby, NOT a sport. If you want to retard it down to the point where it's safe and acceptable for all and it looks nothing like the real thing, that's called Paintball.

Then he contradicts himself by talking about law enforcement and military. So this is military training, for civilians? So it's essentially militia training? How's that like football? Which is it? A sport, or military training? Are we preparing ourselves for the impending zombie apocalypse or are we throwing the old pigskin around?

[Catch22]

Pigskin Zombie Apocalypse!

[Junto]

Why do threads for these things still pop up? There will never be a national-level airsoft organization that actually accomplishes anything.

Hard enough getting stuff done locally.

[Chad]

He used a bad comparison with football. He should have gone with more of a broader generalization with the evolution of sports as a whole; compared to what the once were, and how they are now.

I can see that trying to mainstream airsoft would be folly. That would involve televising events, and not to rain on anyones parade, but dedicated enthusiasts would enjoy watching it, not the general public as a whole. Watching live-fire training is cool, the first time; after that it becomes a bore unless you are involved in the live-fire exercise.

I do believe that the concept of Airsoft can translate into many applications that could be evolved and be on a SMALL comparison to how martial arts in terms of Armed and Unarmed Self-Defense, in an realistic suburban setting on an indoor or outdoor airsoft arena. What better way to train, than in an environment that is similar to how you might be attacked. Train like you fight.

Martial arts also has more to offer than just hitting and blocking. People learn self-control, motivation etc. Same can be said about MilSim.

Just my opinion,

Chad

[Heretic]

No.

Go away.

[Farmer]

I totaly agree that football was a bad analogy, if taken for the same thing. I think the point would have been better made if he had taken oh lets say airsofts bastard brother... paintball. Paintball was seen as "that game that wierd kids and over the top survivalist type play." I know, I used to see it that way when I heard about my uncle playing, way back (omg I am OLD) in the early 90's.I didnt start to really understand what the game really was till I played my first game early 2000's. Now paintball is fairly "mainstream" for a "extreme" type sport. They have/had the NPPL for anyone who doesnt know that National Professional Paintball League. There are MASSIVE tournements held world wide. Heck Portland had a team for a LONG time. The Naughty Dogs at one point were one of the upper tiered pro teams.

Do I think airsoft will ever be like paintball? I sure hope NOT. Paintball is fun but airsoft is a totaly different animal. In airsoft 90%+ of the players carefully balance rps and accuracy. In paintball, its A.B.V. accuracy by volume. I do however hope airsoft can one day be looked at as just another of those adrenaline junkie type sports and not those wierd survivalist/teenage hormoned/fantasy world games.

[Low recoil]

I think that we already have a great system here and that having outsiders laydown rules that affect us shouldnt happen. AP is filled with great teams and players. What allows everyone to get along so well is that we are all locals and have made/set rules for our areas of play. People halfway across the US shouldnt tell us how to play the game or what rules/standards must be enforced. What makes the game attractive is that it has a lack of rules and can be as simple as backyard battles or as awesome as milsim games.

Overall, we should remain independent because that is what has made this site and its members great.

[Snake_Eyes]

Here is my take on this idea and its something that I feel should happen.

Airsoft as a hobby does need a national organization that is the face of the hobby. If it has a board of directors it will help support the rights of they hobbyists. Since Airsoft is a unique hobby in that it uses replica firearms it also falls under many potential gun ownership laws, like it or not. Also in the cases where negligent usage of replicas can potentially get you arrested or at worst killed due to law enforcement mispercieving the replica as a firearm, it is nice to have a National Body to show airsoft as a good hobby rather than a scary misrepresentated one.

Also I feel that there should be a universal list of safety protocols all airsofters should abide by. By this I mean a maximum FPS limit and safety equipment (requirement of eye pro etc) and have regional groups that can set up their guidelines themselves. This allows each region to dictate their limits within the pre-designated maximum.

We need to face the fact that we are a fractured community nationwide. This breeds inconsistencies that can potentially lead to harmful outcomes to the hobby as a whole. In the eyes of the public and law makers there is no distinguishable difference between an airsofter from AP or one from the East Coast.

I agree that airsoft should not be likened to the NFL etc. Airsoft is not geared towards professional sports. Paintball tried with speedball tournements and it is somewhat effective. However Paintball has something that Airsoft does not. The USPA United States Paintball Association and the APPA American Paintball Players Association. These nationwide organizations are the voice for Paintballers across the country. They also organize "professional" paintball tournements. While we don't need tournements like speedball we could definitely have tournements like Room Clearance and Scenario competitions.

We need to stop being isolationist, it will be our hobby's downfall.

[Farmer]

Yes Snake-eyes. I agree with everything you said.


On a side note, I tracked down an email addy for the retired major, and emailed him last night. So far no answer but I will keep folks informed.

[Switchback]

Props to this man for putting himself out there. If there were events that started being scheduled where your membership payed the way, I'd love it. I think if he does that, then this will take off, and then event prices can slowly be added.

So the membership pays for maybe, 2 OP's a year, then you get a discount on all other NAA games.

[Farmer]

So, I emailed the address in the contacts section of the website. Turns out it is the webmaster for the site and not the Orginizer. I have been unable to figure out how to contact him myself. I have found reference of him leading an event that no longer exists in Fort Drum called Operation Pine Plains, but again no real contact info. I will do a more ntensive search tonight after work and tomorrow on my day off.

I will keep everyone informed as to what I come up with.