I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

[avenger79]

Re: I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

ok please pardon my ignorance here but I thought airsoft rifles were for just that? almost like paintball without the distance or paint. i never let my son get one because I assumed that's what they would be doing with it. he did get into paintball but there it's in a controlled environment and everyone there actually wants to be shot. I don't agree with that either as a whole but that's because of my own thoughts on guns in general.

on a side not a I think the reference to your aunt was a totally different situation. just my opinion.

 

[hostage]

Re: I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

Airsoft and paintball guns are designed specifically for shooting each other. You should make sure to wear the proper protection gear goggles/face mask. Airsoft is suppose to be more "realistic", while a lot of paintball marker (gun) makers try distancing themselves away from that. Being 29 and I use to play and own both to me its like buying your kid an XBOX and expecting him to only watch DVDs on it.

BB/Pellet guns that shoot the metal projectiles should NEVER be pointed at a human in any situation.

Airsoft = ~300FPS with a plastic .45 caliber projectile
Paintball = ~300FPS w/ a paint-filled .68 caliber projectile
BB Gun = ~1200FPS w/ a metal .17 caliber projectile

*Velocity can vary.

 

[mphy98]

Re: I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

Air soft guns are different from BB guns pellet guns and the like. They have airsoft wars all the time now and are quite safe if the proper equipment is used. The kids play all around here with them and they are harmless. Some of the plastic BB's are biodegradable to satisfy the earth crowd. The kids have a great time playing war (something we all did back in the day) but now it is a bit more realistic. They have an ineresting one here for the rather well off http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IFswvt5pM4&feature=related that one is awesome, but not for everyday play! Watch the entire video and you will be afraid!!! I remember my parents when they gave me a BB gun telling me if I even pointed it at anyone they would smash it against a tree. For the most part these properly used are harmless. But... not the one in the video

 

[DJ]

Re: I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

ANY device that shoots a projectile is a weapon.....

We all learned that with BB guns, bows, etc.

The same rules apply to ANY weapon........

DO NOT point the business end of a weapon at something unless you plan to shoot it. Period.....

 

[tx1961whaler]

Re: I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

Airsoft = ~300FPS with a plastic .45 caliber projectile
Paintball = ~300FPS w/ a paint-filled .68 caliber projectile
BB Gun = ~1200FPS w/ a metal .17 caliber projectile

*Velocity can vary.

Airsoft (mine anyway) are a 6mm projectile with various weights. I've seen 8mm ammo, but no 8mm guns.

 

[hostage]

Re: I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

I find it funny that there is "similar thread" listed below with ezbtr taking out a ceiling light fixture with the airsoft gun

 

[lakelover]

Re: I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

A gun is a gun is a gun, and kids need to be taught to respect them and their power. I taught my kids gun safety at any and all opportunities. We recently had an incident locally before Christmas where a 12 year old accidentally shot and killed his friend with a pistol.

I won't second guess your punishments, but I think you did the right thing to make a major issue of it.

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

No gripes at all I may have been even more severe actually. Gun Safety is not something taken lightly at my house. My boy is 6 he has already taken the Eddie Eagle gun safety course. He will be taking it again next year. No difference in my mind between an air soft pistol and any other weapon rule number 1 never point at anything you are not willing to destroy. Being this way now prevents a news article drawn up 12 year old boy confuses air soft pistol with real pistol and shoots friend. Instead the news article at worst case scenario reads 12 year old boy confuses pistol with airsoft pistol and shoots kitchen floor.

In all my time handling a gun I have never had an Accidental Discharge I have however had a negligent discharge had a new walther P22 couldn't figure out the how the thing worked and shot my kitchen floor but because I followed rule number 2 it turned into just some wounded pride and not worse. Seems to me the you did the right thing and I may have been more severe. I watched a gentleman not follow rule number two had a negligent discharge and the results were very very bad LUCKILY his girlfriend lived. You can never be to careful my dad still has a BB in his hand from when he was a kid.

 

[avenger79]

Re: I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

No gripes at all I may have been even more severe actually. Gun Safety is not something taken lightly at my house. My boy is 6 he has already taken the Eddie Eagle gun safety course. He will be taking it again next year. No difference in my mind between an air soft pistol and any other weapon rule number 1 never point at anything you are not willing to destroy. Being this way now prevents a news article drawn up 12 year old boy confuses air soft pistol with real pistol and shoots friend. Instead the news article at worst case scenario reads 12 year old boy confuses pistol with airsoft pistol and shoots kitchen floor.

In all my time handling a gun I have never had an Accidental Discharge I have however had a negligent discharge had a new walther P22 couldn't figure out the how the thing worked and shot my kitchen floor but because I followed rule number 2 it turned into just some wounded pride and not worse. Seems to me the you did the right thing and I may have been more severe. I watched a gentleman not follow rule number two had a negligent discharge and the results were very very bad LUCKILY his girlfriend lived. You can never be to careful my dad still has a BB in his hand from when he was a kid.

that would appear to be a very accidental discharge. apparently rule #1 was left treat every gun as though it's loaded.

 

[26aftcab454]

Re: I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

I don't have any advise to the OP.

But BB gun wars were great- just don't shoot in the head/face- my brother had a S&W co2 powered BB gun that would shoot 50 shots as fast as you could pull the trigger-always be on the same team as him. Our sport was to shoot the green lizards and black birds that coverd back patio.

thing were differt back then and yes we were fools . we were jack asses before Johnny Knoxville was born.
In High School at sports award banquets the door prizes for the students would be Shotguns, .22s and ice chest.
that would all against the law now.
...but we survived, prospered and had alot of fun.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

ok please pardon my ignorance here but I thought airsoft rifles were for just that? almost like paintball without the distance or paint. i never let my son get one because I assumed that's what they would be doing with it. he did get into paintball but there it's in a controlled environment and everyone there actually wants to be shot. I don't agree with that either as a whole but that's because of my own thoughts on guns in general.

on a side not a I think the reference to your aunt was a totally different situation. just my opinion.

Yes, I agree with you on this. I think he overreacted. Airsoft "wars" are common, my nephew is into that. They wear proper gear, though. But yes, they are designed to shoot at each other. To say "never point a gun at something you don't intend to shoot" is a little graphic for a toy gun that shoots plastic BB's.

My nephew got a brand new one, super powerful thing, for xmas. I had him shoot me point blank in the back. I had a coat and sweatshirt on, but no other padding between my skin and the BB. I felt nothing but a mild thud. It didn't hurt at all.

I'm sorry, I might be the only one here, but I will say you overreacted. I think most people who replied that you didn't know nothing about Airsoft. The few that do stated that your reaction might have been appropriate for a BB/pellet gun which was NEVER designed to shoot people, but not for Airsoft, which is designed to shoot at people.

For those who think someone would pick up a gun and think it's an airsoft gun, they'd be pretty stupid. Airsoft guns have big orange ends on the barrels and are very heavy in the rear where the battery goes. They also rattle when full of BB's and feel "toyish." They also commonly mimic assault rifles and military rifles. Not many people have those lying around.

Just my two cents.

 

[rickryder]

Re: I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

Here is my .02..... I have 3 boys that are grown now. They had asked me many times when they were young for toy guns....My answer NO! Air soft guns NO! I taught them at an early age that guns are to be shot at targets and game animals only. I never condone aiming any gun real or fake at any person. I even went off at the neighbor who by the way is a police officer because his kid pointed a fake gun at me from his yard....My point is that if a young child is allowed to play with fake or bb guns and just happens to find a real gun in the home takes it outside to play army or cops and robbers someone is going to seriously hurt or killed. Buy your kid a .22 and teach them proper gun safety.


as for......"For those who think someone would pick up a gun and think it's an airsoft gun, they'd be pretty stupid."

Like a 8 year old really knows the difference?????? Why take the chance??? Do a search on google on children that have killed friends because they thought the gun they found in dads closet was a toy or not loaded!! Now there is another issue! dumb people that don't have trigger locks or gun safes.....but I won't get started on that one!!

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: I went off at my 12 yr old son and his bud for pointing airsoft rifles!

Apparently very few of the above posters grew up playing Cops and Robbers, Cowboys and Indians or even Bond, James Bond.:facepalm: