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Making your community paintball friendly. In the 1980's the whole country fell in love with ATV's, Three wheelers were all the rage, you could not find a dune or open pasture anywhere that wasn't alive with the hum of 2 stroke engines, I was in my teen years then and that is where I started to develop my need for adrenaline, three wheelers created a whole new level of excitement for me, then some politicians decided it was not up to me if I ride them, they took that freedom right out from under my feet and banned their sale in the USA! I was pissed but once an issue like that gets to that point there is no turning back. True enough was the fact that people were hurt on these sport trikes, but these people for the most part were hurt while exceeding the trikes capabilities, these things happen, its just human nature to go faster, higher and all out balls to the wall! I am positive that some anti-three wheeler nut was sitting in front of a committee somewhere describing three wheelers as some kind of vehicle that will deliver the whole nation straight to the confines of hell! Guess what! They are doing it again, only this time it is with paintball, the good news is, the anti paintball movement is still in its infantsy, we can stop it from growing but we all need to help. The uninformed and ignorant powers that be are being bombarded with testimony that is full of half truths and all out lies, case in point, a doctor testified that paintballs travel at 1000 FPS, this is a man with years of education, did he not stop to think that a paintball shot from a marker with enough force to travel that fast would only break from the turbulence inside the barrel, or if it did manage to make it clear of the muzzle it would be so distorted it would never make it to its intended target. Fueling to the anti-paintball movement is the droves of people that have no respect for our sport, they go to Wal-Mart or where ever and buy a paintgun then go shoot up Burger king, unfortunately we cannot stop that from happening, we can however slow it down, if you know someone who is doing things like this, stop them, I personally don't care how you do it, just do it! If your community is thinking of banning paintball in your area make your presence known, go to the town meetings, go to the committees, show them your positive side and assure them the ones who do vandalism are the few and have no regard for this sport, let them know they could of just as easily destroyed the "Home of the Whopper" with a thousand bottles of white out, which roughly would cost the same as a case of marbs. You can also change the thinking of your community and help your community, by being a part of your community, here is what I mean. If you are on a paintball team, organized or not, start thinking of your team as more of a club, a club that helps the community. have fundraisers to benefit charities that are in your town, raise money for Special Olympics, Jerry's kids, the forth of July fireworks or any thing, I bet you could organize a toy drive during the holidays, if you as a team sincerely act to support your community, then your community will support you. Here is an example: The Mason's, who really knows what is going on inside of their organization? are they sacrificing virgins? are they a major drug cartel? or are they just a bunch of guys who don't want their wives to know they drink beer and watch dirty movies? who knows for sure, they are based on secrecy, no one questions them because they donate billions of dollars a year to help other people, they are making the world a better place. Just as it works for other organizations, paintball can thrive if its participants will also participate in the real causes, the causes that the political heads over look so they can attack other peoples way of life and their livelihood. You as a team can also benefit from these acts of good deeds, while out raising money or cleaning highways, people will start to notice you, rich people, CEOs, entrepreneurs, people who make decisions about what sports to sponsor, are you starting to get the picture? it would take an evil person to turn down sponsoring a team that just gave his/her favorite charity $1500. It will also effect how the general public will act towards you, if you have a carwash or a candy sale to raise money for your team, they will buy your candy and let you wash their cars, after all you people donated $785 toward their towns annual fireworks display! I'm not telling you to go out and do good deeds just because it will benefit you as a team, go out and help make a difference, first to help your community, second to save paintball, and third, so you can enjoy doing what you love to do! I would like to add, I'm not anti American, I love this country, this is why I would like to see us as paintballers help out, I am however anti communism and when the government starts enforcing laws that restrict our freedom I start wondering if maybe we are heading down a road we do not want to take. So do your part, support your community, the only thing we have to lose is our entire sport! By, Buddy "Traumadawg" Hendrix |
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