Banning Paintball

After noticing that "The German government is planning to ban paintball and laser shooting games in reaction to the recent school massacre in which 15 people died.News Link

I was wondering WTF?

Ive never participated in the sport myself so it´d be wrong to judge.
I was wondering if the similarity's & general inspiration of the people who play these games makes them potential massacre lunatics?

And the question is whats next, banning school kids from using water pistols?

Just hope the idea doesn´t catch on in other countries, the gun lobby would love it in the US for example.

That's stupid as hell, Jesus Christ whats next.

Banning paintball/laser tag, etc. wouldn't do shit.

This is the same as when they blamed Marilyn Manson and violent video games as the reason for Columbine. I play violent games and listen to profane music but you don't see me wanting to shoot up a local mall.

People want to find something to blame other than little "Timmy".

As everyone knows laser tag guns are perfect practice for using an actual weapon, the recoil, noise and effect are nearly identical.

I've played Paintball.. Its lots of fun and I feel there is nothing wrong with it.. One bad person should not put the bad mouth on something that many others enjoy

I have done Paintball (hurts like a *****) and no way does it effect people like that.

Originally posted by Bicnarok
After noticing that "The German government is planning to ban paintball and laser shooting games in reaction to the recent school massacre in which 15 people died.News Link

I was wondering WTF?

Ive never participated in the sport myself so it´d be wrong to judge.
I was wondering if the similarity's & general inspiration of the people who play these games makes them potential massacre lunatics?

And the question is whats next, banning school kids from using water pistols?

Just hope the idea doesn´t catch on in other countries, the gun lobby would love it in the US for example.

Let us try and think about it from another perspective.

People run around trying to shoot and mock "kill" each other. This activity is regarded as fun.

Then look at some of the computer games like Grand Theft Auto or Manhunt etc, in these games the player runs about shooting innocent people, often in very graphic ways. This activity is regarded as fun.

Can we not in fact consider these acts to be dysfunctional, perhaps psychologically they indicate a disturbed mind which has tendency to violence.

I think Paint Ball is a little different but in regards to games like GTA...why on earth is running around murdering people considered good fun? Surely something has gone wrong here...or is it simply the human mind's natural violence and animal bloodlust being exported through a suitable medium?

Originally posted by Grand-Moff-Gav
Let us try and think about it from another perspective.

People run around trying to shoot and mock "kill" each other. This activity is regarded as fun.

Then look at some of the computer games like Grand Theft Auto or Manhunt etc, in these games the player runs about shooting innocent people, often in very graphic ways. This activity is regarded as fun.

Can we not in fact consider these acts to be dysfunctional, perhaps psychologically they indicate a disturbed mind which has tendency to violence.

I think Paint Ball is a little different but in regards to games like GTA...why on earth is running around murdering people considered good fun? Surely something has gone wrong here...or is it simply the human mind's natural violence and animal bloodlust being exported through a suitable medium?

I can't tell you why others play it, but I love the freedom the vast city gives you. The missions are interesting and challenging, and the story and especially extra content is amazing. I don't think that it makes you more likely to kill people. It seems to me that it is unrelated, the fact that you understand that there's no moral wrong in play acting and killing electronig data doesn't make you more likely to take lives. There's an obvious difference, and most people playing those games never do anything like that, because their moral compass isn't screwed up to begin with.

Paintball seems like an orderly, nondestructive way to channel aggressive emotions and excess energy away from something that might end poorly. Jung would might say that paintball allows for a controlled release of the shadow's excess aggression, preventing more calamitous outbursts later.

Originally posted by Grand-Moff-Gav
Can we not in fact consider these acts to be dysfunctional, perhaps psychologically they indicate a disturbed mind which has tendency to violence.

No we can't. Playing violent games is pretty common and does not consistently make one's life difficult, thus not abnormal from a psychological perspective. The desire to cut loose is also not dysfunctional for exactly the same reasons.

Yup, more stupidity.

The world is full of stupidity. There are so many stupid people that we could actually do without 2 or so billion and it would be a much better place.

Originally posted by Grand-Moff-Gav
Let us try and think about it from another perspective.

People run around trying to shoot and mock "kill" each other. This activity is regarded as fun.

Then look at some of the computer games like Grand Theft Auto or Manhunt etc, in these games the player runs about shooting innocent people, often in very graphic ways. This activity is regarded as fun.

Can we not in fact consider these acts to be dysfunctional, perhaps psychologically they indicate a disturbed mind which has tendency to violence.

I think Paint Ball is a little different but in regards to games like GTA...why on earth is running around murdering people considered good fun? Surely something has gone wrong here...or is it simply the human mind's natural violence and animal bloodlust being exported through a suitable medium?

Originally posted by Rogue Jedi
It's up to the individual to recognize the difference between a video game and real life. If someone is so ****ed up that they think they are actually a Groves street homey and decide it's OK to do the things that Carl does, then banning the games will do nothing. The same person will get the same message by watching Boyz N the Hood.

QFT

Originally posted by Kinkin
That's stupid as hell, Jesus Christ whats next.

When are government and idiot lobbying groups going to realise that games/music/films don't cause the kind of underlying mental issues that makes people go out and kill a load of their classmates?

So far 100% of the people who have committed these types of killings and have been caught alive afterwards have been shown to have serious psychological problems.

Yes they owned violent video games/films/themed music but so do a massive proportion of people today. The reason they're not going out killing people is they don't have psychological problems to begin with.

If there's 1 thing that's garaunteed to irk me no end, it's stupid reactionary bullshit like this. I guess it's just cheaper and easier than dealing with the ACTUAL problem.

Groves Street 4 life, niggah.

I think its society and its effect on certain individuals which triggers these things off. Maybe certain games or violent movies are a small trigger in some way, but the problems lie somewhere else.

People are hypocrites, shithead parents in particular. Everyone's always looking for a scapegoat. Video games and paintball are easy things to blame. Take them away from the equation and I guarantee you nothing will change until people stop doing ****ed up shit and until dumbass parents stop ignoring, denying or being oblivious to the fact that their child has issues. There are enough telltale signs with this shit nowadays. It's like saying capital punishment will lower the crime rate. It's a ****ing bandaid used to satisfy the parents stupid enough to believe that video games or laser tag are responsible. You have to get to the root of the problem and that require people to take their head out of their asses. But that's a bit too much work for many.

We should really go back further, to the source of violent behavior, ban cap-guns, actions figures, any and all cartoons that hint at violence, hell, let's completely demasculinize boys from infancy onward.

That should fix everything, if we're going to blame-shift.