Posted on 03/26/2004 8:08:35 AM PST by archy
Government warns paintball gun users while it investigates two deaths
ASSOCIATED PRESS
11:14 a.m. March 24, 2004
WASHINGTON – The government issued sharp warnings on Wednesday to paintball gun users, announcing new safety measures while investigations continue into two deaths caused by canisters flying off the guns.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission said both deaths occurred after brass valves unscrewed from the pressurized carbon dioxide canisters on the guns, which turned the canisters into projectiles.
In June 2003, a 15-year-old boy from Washington state died after the canister he was removing struck him in the head, the commission said. In February, a California mother of two was instantly killed by a canister that propelled off a gun someone was disassembling nearby.
"Make sure the brass or nickel-plated canister valve is securely attached to the canister, rotates with the canister and does not unscrew from the canister," the commission advised.
Spokesman Eric Criss said officials did not issue a warning after the first death because not enough information was available at the time to know the cause.
Criss said the investigations should be concluded in a few months. A product could be recalled if problems are traced to a single manufacturer. The government could also call for voluntary or mandatory regulations for all manufacturers.
Bob McGuire, president of the Tennessee-based American Paintball League, said he hoped the new warnings would encourage people to become better educated on how to safely remove the canisters, which is necessary to store the guns or refill them.
McGuire said they have been aware of a "twist-off possibility" for some time but that the odds of such occurrences are remote, especially when qualified professionals are handling the guns. He said he knows of other instances of canisters flying off but only when inexperienced people tried to remove them.
The commission also advised:
– The canister assembly should unscrew from the paintball gun in about three or four full turns. If you finish the fourth full turn and the canister is not unscrewed from the gun, stop! Take it to a professional.
– Some people have used paint or nail polish to mark the valve and canister so they can see that they rotate together while being removed.
The full safety warning can be viewed at
www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml04/04105.html
Not a paintball user, but this sounds like a problem with probably one or two mfgrs.
Not a good one either.
A serious- potentially lethal- problem deserving of CPSC interest? Or a way for CPSC safety Nazis to get a little closer to the regulation of firearms?
Details of one of the incidents can be seen in the top link in post #7.
...and they want that control. They have for years now.
Besides being just plain old fun, paint balling provides very realistic training opportunites in small arms and small group tactics. Trainging that is very real...without the inherant danger.
The incident level of this type of thing, while tragic in each individual case, is miniscule, but it is something emotional they can attach to and use to drive for controlling legislation which is ultimately what they are after. Defective manufacturing and training issues can be handled in indivdual cases without massive goivernmental involvement.
It had a valve which was attached to the R-12 can and which contained an integral tool for puncturing the can. You'd attach the valve, puncture the can by tapping on the steel perforator, then when the valve pressurized, the can/valve assembly was twisted into position on the gun.
One day, the perforator stuck and the valve could not pressurize. I grabbed some pliers and wiggled the perforator, but in doing so I lifted the seal away from the can and the pressure vented, blowing the valve off. The can skidded along the ground for a few feet, then shot down the gravel road, climbed vertically to about the height of the treetops before petering out. I paced it off - the can flew a bit over 100 yards. It's one of those indelible memories that we carry forever. :-)
IMHO, there's a bigger target here than paintball guns. Some airgun enthusiasts have been modding their CO2 rifles and pistols to use bulk air supplies; the most economical of which are paintball air tanks. Some of the bulk-air-equipped pellet rifles have been rebarrelled in larger bore sizes, too - pellets as large as 9mm are available. You can bet that the safety nazis and other nanny-state types are concerned over this "Tim the Tool Man" approach to non-firearm weapons.
The CPSC can bite me. I maintain a '70s-vintage Toro lawnmower (with no footguards and yes, equipped with the deadly spring-wound crank starter), just because they think such equipment is unsafe to use.
Here's the first problem. I'm an avid paintballer, and he was apparently unscrewing the tank like a pickle jar, holding the gun pointing downward and gripping the bottom of the tank, which any paintballer with two brain cells to rub together knows is the wrong way to do it. You hold the gun parallel to the ground and perpendicular to your body and slowly unscrew the tank; that's the proper way. That way, if something like this happens, the tank doesn't strike you; it's just common sense. I feel bad that this tragedy happened, but some of the blame lays with the victim for not understanding the very basics of safety when handling a paintball gun.
Snip...
California airsmith Glenn Palmer, owner of Palmer’s Pursuit shop had the opportunity to investigate the tank and valve from the Placerville accident. As the equipment was subject to an ongoing government investigation, he was not allowed to touch the equipment, or remove the valve from the paintgun’s bottom-line air system adapter to determine how tightly it was stuck, or why.
According to Palmer the tank had been modified from its originally manufactured state. An anti-siphon tube had been added to the valve so that it would draw gaseous CO2 instead of liquid when the tank was screwed all the way in to the paintgun’s ASA. Local law enforcement told Palmer that their investigation had not identified the person responsible for the modification, as the tank and paintgun were purchased used through an Internet auction.
Palmer noted that the threads on the valve neck and tank appeared to be mechanically sound. He also spotted no signs of thread locking compound on the valve neck. Palmer states that historically the Department of Transportation specifications for valve installation have not required thread locking compound, but specify higher torque ratings for “dry” valve installation. It is common practice in the paintball industry to use a thread-locking compound when installing CO2 tank valves. This is also true for screw-in style compressed air systems, though some cradle mounted HPA systems are set up with user-removable tanks without thread locker. These types of air systems are not unscrewed from a paintgun in normal use under pressure, greatly decreasing the risk of accidental separation.
Not when playing against normal folks, but watching tournaments, I've seen 15 year old kids throw their $1,500 electronic guns, as if it were to blame for them getting shot by an old man with a $100.00 Tippman, cringing the whole time.
A fresh 20 ounce tank registers close to 3,000 PSI. Paintball guns ain't toys.
I'd bet money Mr. Palmer the airsmith is dead on.
I own, and use, an early 1960s all metal Craftsman electric drill that belonged to my father.
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