i still have my first one, a bolt action NelSpot from the 80's. first one in the county too.
Posted on 05/07/2009 5:25:04 PM PDT by Mount Athos
The German government wants to tighten gun laws and ban paintball games in response to a school shooting in which 16 people were killed in March, coalition sources said on Thursday.
Experts from Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and her Social Democrat (SPD) coalition partners had agreed to ban paintball games, in which players shoot at each other with pellets containing paint, the sources said.
The governing parties say games like paintball trivialise violence and risk lowering the threshold for committing violent acts, the sources said.
Infringements to the new rules, which the cabinet hopes to pass before a general election in September, could incur fines of up to €5 000, the sources said.
Previous incidents
A 17-year-old shot dead 15 people in the southwestern town of Winnenden, before killing himself in March, stunning many Germans and leading politicians to call for tighter gun rules.
The teenager had shot many of his victims in the head with his father's legally registered pistol. His father, a member of a shooting club, had 15 guns at home - fourteen were locked in a gun closet as required by law but the pistol was in the bedroom, officials have said.
Germany toughened its gun laws in 2002 after 19-year-old Robert Steinhauser shot dead 16 people, mainly teachers, and himself at a high school in the eastern German city of Erfurt.
The changes raised the minimum age for gun ownership to 21 from 18 and required gun buyers under 25 to present a certificate of medical and psychological health. Gun laws already required applicants to pass rigorous exams that can take up to a year.
The new rules would also grant authorities more rights in conducting checks with people owning guns, the sources said.
Sources in the SPD said the parties were also moving towards on agreement on the creation of a nationwide weapons register and were considering setting up biometric security locks for weapons stores.
This is the European mindset:
Paintball - NO!
Needle Park - YES!
(And yes, I now Needle Park is no more; was there a few years ago when it was back to a regular park)
Forget ammo... buy paintballs.
I’m sorry, I missed the part about the shooters mentioned here being paintballers. Where was that part? What study shows paintballers are more likely to murder someone? When I was a kid we used bb guns. None of my friends are killers......yet. I think ole one eye may knock off someone soon.
Gee, did the shooter (either one) have a history of ‘paintball gaming’?
Another question - what was it about the school that drove the kid to such desparate measures? Whole lotta rage there.
And of course locking up the weapons will slove the ‘problem’ - yes? THen knives, baseball bats, etc, etc.
To be fair, the Germans seem to have fewer (or fewer are reported) of these rampages... Anyone know where to find any kind of European stats on crime/shooting incidents? THat are straight?
Many Germans are livid at their PC immigration policy and taxes.
They give immigrants better dental plans and health benefits than they do Germans born in that country.
I asked my neighbor about it. She admitted that they tolerated it because of the whole "Hitler Thing" (exact quote).
I want to see the whole "Mohammad Thing."
how long until German males will need a license to keep their testicles? It’s a proven fact that almost every rapist used testicles in the commission of his crime.
The only thing paint ball contributed to this event may have been to make him a better shot.
I love to play paint ball. There’s nothing better than a clean kill on a crisp morning in the fall. I shot this girl three times in the head from 50 yards and saw the paint splatter in slow motion. A peak experience.
Uh. Okay. I wonder if that girl is still your friend. I wouldn’t be.
I have no idea who she was..just a pony tail.
The point is a three head shots at 50 yards with a paint ball gun..that’s pretty good.
The whole western world had gone STARK STARING INSANE!
“Just a ponytail...” Well I never! LOL!
Okay, seriously, I have no idea why people would ever want to play this game which is quite painful from accounts I’ve heard. I like laser tag - same fun but no pain. Of course, I’ve gotta remember to ditch the white turtleneck next time.
hey did people get killed by paintballs?
i still have my first one, a bolt action NelSpot from the 80's. first one in the county too.
Paint ball is fun!
Try it once. You’ll love it. At worst, it’s a bee sting if you get hit in the neck, hands or ass. Welts, so what. Wear padding, stay low. Try to get in behind and shoot em in the back.
I have only played out in the woods, not in the speed zones like on ESPN. I have played in big games with 100s on a side. That’s fun..target rich. I’ve played where adults and kids are mixed. Shooting kids is easy, they’re stupid.
Buy the best gun you can afford. It makes a big difference when your opponent is laying down 100 rounds a minute and you 20.
Must get rid of fencing, archery, skeet shooting, hunting, video games, movies, TV, martial arts, and the military for the same reasons.
The German pendulum is still swinging away from Nazism. Is it still legal to swat mosquitoes there? To step on ants? To walk on grass? Of course, it’s still OK to hate the Jews for some of them. Especially the muzzl’ems.
What wusses they have become. And proud of it.
If you can't take the hits, you shouldn't be paintballing.
If they ban paintball, they ought to switch to Softair guns like this: http://www.wwiiguns.com/display_articles.php?id=15
Hey, these babies should be familiar to Germans already so everybody should be happy.
Coming up next- saying “bang” to be a felony.
I have to agree with #9, you’re wacked.
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