| y with any firearm is always a basic starting point. A | | | | and that reason has nothing to do with being on the |
| paintball gun is not a toy – all of them say that | | | | field and painting your friends. The safety switch is |
| right on the gun itself. Whether you’re new at | | | | there so that when you are in an unsafe environment |
| paintball or a seasoned veteran of the greatest sport | | | | that you should have it on just in case the trigger is |
| on the planet you always need to consider safety. | | | | accidentally engaged. BANG! Always point your |
| And safety with any weapon, even those airsoft bb | | | | marker in a safe direction. Whether that is pointing it |
| guns, is important. There are so many accidents each | | | | down range, toward the ground or up in the air |
| year from guns that we should always remind each | | | | doesn’t matter but never have it pointed in a |
| other about weapon safety. | | | | direction where if it went off someone might get hurt. |
| There are two main areas to be concerned with on | | | | Always, always, always make sure that your paintball |
| your marker (paintball gun). The first of course is the | | | | gun is unloaded when not in use. Think about these |
| gun itself. The gun by itself is not harmful but when you | | | | three things for a second, if the safety were not |
| mix it with the human element somebody always ends | | | | engaged would the gun go off? No, if you had your |
| up doing something stupid to make the weapon | | | | marker pointed in a safe direction and it did go off |
| unsafe. And the second is the air system. If you | | | | would anybody get hurt? No, and if the paintball gun |
| haven’t guessed by now we are going to have | | | | were not loaded and it went off is there still a chance |
| a discussion about safety, and more specifically about | | | | that someone could get hurt? Yes! If the gun was not |
| paintball safety. Lets get to the meat of it shall we. | | | | loaded but it accidentally went off the air in the gun |
| One of the most basic safety tips is to always treat | | | | could still injure someone. |
| your marker as if it were loaded. I’m sure that | | | | Okay, what about the air system? Most air systems |
| you have heard that before but lets break it down and | | | | are designed to hold high-pressure air and have the |
| really get to what it means. If your gun were loaded | | | | weapon ready to fire in an instant. So if you remove |
| would you point it at anybody? Now that is a hard one | | | | or disengage the air system is there any chance that |
| but you see when we are playing a game and your | | | | there is still pressure in the system? The answer is a |
| opponent is 50 feet away and wearing complete | | | | definite yes. So again the above safety tips apply. |
| safety gear then that’s one thing. But what | | | | Always keep the safety on – sorry I was about |
| everyone means here is to never point it in an unsafe | | | | to repeat the previous paragraph. No need I’m |
| direction while not on the field or in the middle of a | | | | sure you got it this time. |
| game. So if your gun was loaded and you are not on | | | | Lets recap; The safety – always on, always |
| the field and nobody around you has safety gear on | | | | keep your paintball gun pointed in a safe direction, |
| would you point it at anybody? I hope not. Accidental | | | | always point the weapon in a safe direction and never, |
| discharges can kill. | | | | Never NEVER assume that the gun is NOT loaded. |
| Always keep the safety on when not on the field. The | | | | Because for our safety purposes it is always loaded. |
| safety switch on your marker is there for a reason | | | | Be safe and happy hunting. |