What To Do About Paintball Gun Abusers???
Q: I am part of a local LAN gaming group and have been organizing paintball days and have a party lined up. Over the weekend there were a few members having a small LAN but there were a few of the paintballers there. Well, I guess pretty late at night a few of them took off in a car and went shooting up traffic signs, cars and houses. They shot up one or 2 of other members cars and houses as well. Thankfully they all got pulled over and arrested(cops thought they were shooting a .22), and I have banned them from any events I try to organize in the future, but how far should I go? I was thinking about contacting the local stores and fields with photos to keep them banned for some period of time, but is that intruding with the community too much? Indecently there is a news article on NBC tonight about the incident. Thus, I am of the opinion that they intruded upon our paintball community in a very negative way. One of the people was just a passenger and was unaware that the people he was riding with would be doing this. He actually went with them so they didn't screw with his house in other ways as has happened in the past also. You know those "friends" you love to hate... Anyway, he got pretty busted too, only I have not been to hard on him. I don't think there was anything he could have done to stop them anyway. I think he learned never to get in a car with those people again. Besides all the unrealistic "beat the shit out of them" or "lit them up with full hoppers point blank with an angel," what would you(or have done) to these people? Would having 8 cops with guns pointed at their heads be enough for "rehabilitation?" Should I try to keep them out of paintball out of personal revenge? I don't know what to do, or if it my responsibility to do anything. Actually, I know it is my responsibility to protect our hobby as a whole, but to what extent?
A: -Get him banned from paintball, have the people who had their houses shot file suits againt him, do everything you can legally to make him suffer. Make sure any place that sells real guns know that these people are not responsible enough for any sort of firearm. Get the markers taken away, and get him gone. Show the community paintball is a good thing, and go clean up his mess. It sounds tough, and usually is, but it will show a small bit that paintball is good. Do everything you can to show that these people are what make the paintball scene look bad. Kick him out from anything -Do NOT do NOT DO NOT start posting pictures or sharing pictures of these people with stores/communities... this puts you up for a libel/slander lawsuit *UNLESS* they are convicted of some crime. At present, it sounds like they were arrested and (by now) possibly arraigned (not that you indicated they were arraigned). Until conviction, you can not, can NOT, CAN NOT do anything that can be interpreted as "vigilante-ism"... Once convicted, posting publically available information cannot get you in trouble... I agree with Shadow though, you should probably get some volunteers together from your local paintball scene and volunteer to assist those "injured" by the "painting" in cleaning up the damage. This would be a good way of "advising local paintballers of the criminal acts of other people using paintball equipment." Be sure to get the media involved when you go to clean the house, be very circumspect in what you say about the people (as far as specifics go, but feel free to make broad comments about how "people who play paintball are responsible members of society who support the safe use of equipment designed for the sport of paintball. Paintball enthusiasts do not condone the criminal acts perpetrated against the owners of this house or any other property owners. We believe in safety and responsibility first." or some such) Do NOT do NOT do NOT make comments such as naming names, describing the perps, etc. This is best left up to the police... and if asked, tell the media that... "I'm sorry, I can't tell you who did it, but the police did arrest multiple suspects. They can probably give you more information on those suspects than I." The benefit of doing this is multi-fold... first, you can include other people from the scene in cleaning up the mess which makes for good PR.. additionally, because they're helping you out, they'll have to know what happened.... you can always clue them in (unofficially) as to what and who... just make sure they understand that "officially" until the suspects are convicted, they cannot say specifics... If/when conviction comes from the court, you can then provide anything that was made public record (including their names, ages, etc.) as part of the case to the local shops and even the firearms stores in the community. I would recommend at this point taking a copy of the conclusion or verdict of the case to the stores rather than making your own "paperwork" up and handing it out.. This will reduce the chance that you can get into trouble for libel/slander. The key with the media is to remember that you need to be able to keep every statement to a 6 second soundbyte. Do not do NOT DO NOT speak in run on sentances. They will chop what you say up and use it in whatever manner suits them. Practice what you say, make sure that no small part of what you say can be used out of context, or the media will do it to "sensationalize" your commentary. (Again, a good reason to steer away from commenting about the suspects arrested.) Go very easy on the "passenger." Offer to include him in the cleanup process, but be sure he talks to his Lawyer about what he does. If he takes a proactive approach in attempting to repair some of the damage done by those people he was riding with, this might look better for him when his day in court arrives. Again, something for him to discuss with his attorney. If I was the attorney, I would recommend against the "passenger" making (ANY) comments about the other suspects