I'm here to tell you superguns (and high rates of fire) will spell the ruin of our sport. You'd better listen, this time.
WILL LIMITATIONS HURT THE SPORT?
While the industry has attempted to put a cap on rates of fire others have said that doing so would severely damage the growth of the sport.
Bull. The sport managed to get this far without superguns, it will continue to grow with rate of fire limitations. I find it interesting that the same people who are saying we shouldn't have limits on firepower are also either manufacturing, distributing or using these types of markers.
If it is a bad idea to limit firepower, why have any limitations? Let's all jack up our markers to 500 feet per second. Let's not make face masks mandatory. Who needs barrel plugs?
Limitations are necessary to ensure the safety of the sport. Everything has limitations. Every professional sport has rules on equipment to restrict player injury from that equipment. Mandatory use of helmets in hockey. Football has banned metal cleats. NASCAR, instead of rebuilding the track for faster cars has decided to limit the maximum speed. Many other sports have limitations because there is only so far you can go before somebody will get hurt.
If you don't want to put limitations on firepower, then put limitations on where the firepower can be used. If tourney players want to hose each other down like they're on fire, let them. Give them the safety equipment they need to play this level without injury and let them shoot paint by the pound. The supergun does not belong in recreational paintball. If they must be used on the recreational level then you separate them just the way you would separate pump and stock players from semi players.
SAFETY
We have all heard the arguments that superguns posses enough firepower to actually shoot the goggles off another player. This potential for injury alone should made the industry sit up and take notice. This fact was the catalyst for a call for limiting firepower. Many goggle manufacturers are working on a solution to keep the goggles on a players head no matter how many shots they take.
This is fine, but the superguns are already out there. What happens until every player can have the adequate protection? The only reason why paintball hasn't been assaulted as much as it could have been is the fact of our excellent safety record. They can say all they want about camouflage and guns, but when it gets right down to it -- if no one is getting hurt, it isn't dangerous or harmful. If injuries increase, we're going to attract unwanted attention. The authorities and the government are going to have to step in and start regulating us.
MARKET DEMAND AND THE INDUSTRY
The industry says, in it's defence of peddling the superguns, that there is a demand for this type of marker. There's a demand for cocaine and heroine -- the fact that a demand exists doesn't make it right. Just because the players WANT something doesn't automatically make it good for the sport. No industry is run entirely on the whims of the consumer. To say there is a need for the superguns is really saying there is a need for us to SELL $1,400.00 markers and lots of paint.
No supergun manufacturer or paint encapsulator is going to stand up for limited rates of fire. High rates of fire are making these people lots and lots of money, and that's what superguns are all about. I'm not saying that it's some sort of organized conspiracy, what I'm saying is that many people in the industry have a vested interest in the increase in firepower. Therefore they're not going to do much about it, are they?
LOOK IN THE LONG TERM
Right now the paint and over-priced markers look real good in many company's books. Right now. Nobody is looking to what effect the supergun will have in a few years down the road. Most players (not all) who see the need for such firepower are the younger players. They want it fast, they want it faster than fast. Immediate gratification. (I was a teenager once, too, I remember what it was like. If I can't remember my teenage daughter will be more than happy to remind me.)
Now you can't tell me a 14 year old kid bought an Angel and can afford to go through half a case a game without help from Mommy or Daddy. If they did get it with their own money, I'd like to know how many part time jobs they have. In the same vein, if they worked hard for that money why in the world would they not spend it more wisely? Basically, they're a good bunch of kids and I really don't have anything against them. If their parents are willing to foot the bill for paintball, more power to them. Way to go. If they can pay for it themselves, they have my respect as well.
I'm not saying anything against the kids, it's the fault of the industry for not being able to see past the immediate objective of making lots of money right now. These kids are supposed to be the future of our sport. When these kids go to college or join the work force they're going to understand that high rates of fire cost them a lot of their hard-earned money. When they're not living off their parents any more they'll have to pay for the equipment and paint themselves, they're going to find out they can't afford to play any more. So they're going to stop playing.
So much for the future of our sport.
Now there are players who have their own jobs and are older. They're using these markers too. (See I'm not just picking on the kids.) You'd think these players, after working like dogs to get their paycheck would be a little more conservative on the paint consumption. Eventually these players will give up the sport because it's costing them too much money.
THE SUPERGUN AND REC-BALL
Let's not forget that there are many players out there who do not want to be on the business end of a supergun. Now I don't mind getting hit multiple times, but to take 20 shots a second is a bit too much to ask. If I'm playing in a tourney, so be it, that's part of the game. On the recreational level, I'm SUPPOSED to be playing for fun. I do not deny that firing full auto isn't fun -- I spent many years in the infantry and there's nothing cooler than full auto. What isn't cool is being on the receiving end of that full auto string. Many players will say, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. Well, players are doing just that. They're not playing paintball any more because they're tired of getting lit-up by a bunch of yahoos that have more money than brains.
THE ARMS RACE
The other argument is that to play effectively against a supergun you have to have a supergun. In other words, "Everybody else is using them, I'm just trying to keep up." That's a load of crap and you know it. Use your brain rather than your trigger finger. Learn to play the game, any idiot can pull a trigger.
THE PROPHESY
Mark my words, the superguns are the first technological level that is actually going to hurt the sport . . .
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