Airsoft and Paintball Gun Safety; What the Manual Doesn't Say

There comes a point in time where a boy moves away from Nerf guns and wants more of the real gun experience. Enter stage left: Air soft guns. I am not sure if this has always been a phenomena but when my son turned 12, it was like the Air soft fever began and it hasn't really stopped. A year later, we could fill a small gun closet. We have snipers, semi-automatics, hand guns, etc. (all air soft and a few new paintball prides.) But no matter the gun type, over the last year we have learned a few valuable lessons that I wish someone would have told me to cover with my son. And yes, some of this may seem like common sense (and it is) but one thing is sure, common sense at age 12 looks a heck of a lot different than common sense as an adult. So, here goes. If your son has a recreational gun, the following concepts may be great to cover before handing over the ammunition. (Drum roll, please.)

Wear the Facemask, But Not by the Bank

In the throws of an air soft war, my son came home with a lose tooth. He got shot in the tooth! What are the odds of that? ( A little scene titled: Murphy's law.) My son has a perfect, braces-free smile. The orthodontist even told us that not only are his teeth perfect, but he has the best natural bite the orthodontist has ever seen! Fast forward 9 months, we are still dealing with a primary tooth about to fall out. I asked him, "Why were you not wearing the face mask?" I was fed a beautiful tale of 12 year old common sense. None of it changed the fact though, the tooth is still loose.

This mishap made my son a huge believer in the facemask. So, weeks later, I get a report from a neighborhood store owner about the stir caused by two teenage boys fully geared (complete with black air soft facemasks) and carrying air soft rifles, as they cut through the bank parking lot. (Queue eerie orchestra music.) Oh boy. My boy, no doubt. So we had to cover the lesson, "don't walk by the bank carrying a gun in a face mask, when you pass for the size of most adult men!" See, this is just the kind of thing you may not think to say, but really should. (Where is the comic relief when you need it? )

Call Before You Dig (or Replicate a scene from Call of Duty 2 in our backyard!)

I am sure you have seen the electric company's policy on digging. Basically, it is "don't." Digging is tricky business in most parts where electricity is involved. (Okay, all parts.) When my sons friends all started getting these air soft guns, they were all told to find an open spot, not to shoot around people...etc. That is exactly what they did. But even if your son finds a nice secluded, safe place - as ours did,, in a 12 year old mind, this may translate at some point to someone saying "we need a trench" or "let's dig a manhole!"

Some 12 year olds are stronger than some men and give that boy a shovel and you could have problems. And ten 12 year olds can dig a full grave in 2 hours flat - 6 feet under. Now, they may be 6 feet under if you don't tell your son "don't dig!" And by all means, do not use the box that says "High Voltage" as your rally point! Even better, make sure you know where your son is playing...and that an adult is very close by. (Who would have suspected that a gun for Christmas would mean we need to carefully monitor our gardening tools?)

What goes up, must come down

Within a week of getting our first paintball gun, the police were at my door to ask if I had 2 boys on the deck of my second story. Of course, I did. (And yes, I got an enormous knot in my throat!) Turns out my son and his friend were shooting the gun up into the air off of our deck. Now, as quiet as my street is, this was a bad, bad idea that I would never endorse. But after a year with air soft, I had given a little freedom to my son. The paint ball went up and came down and happened to hit a man from the electric company who was working quietly on a neighboring house.

This story assumes that I believe they weren't aiming at the electric company guy, which is still fuzzy. I wasn't born yesterday...as much as I felt like it unaware of what was going on, on my own deck. However, it reiterates one key lesson: If you shoot it up, it will come down.

Actually, here is bonus lesson...if you shoot someone you do not know, they should and will call the police. My son got lucky because the man shot did not press charges. But he did not get as lucky when the policeman left! All guns were confiscated.

For a while, perhaps a long while, it's curtains on the guns.

These are things gun safety sites may not tell you but rest assured, could save you and your son from serious trouble in your gun-owning future. Good luck, mom and dad! (All of us getting through the "gun" years will certainly deserve an encore!)