Paint pellets are firing up safety debate

Some observers believe an increase in injuries can be attributed to unsupervised use. Dr. David Listman, a pediatrician at St. Barnabas Hospital in New York, published a study in the journal Pediatrics last month calling for a ban on paintball use in unauthorized areas.

Parents are often oblivious to a gas-powered gun's potential. Indeed, paintball guns are often sold in discount stores without directions.

"I didn't know [paintball guns] could hurt somebody like this," says Diana Estes, Chris's mom. "Somebody squirting paint on somebody, that's what I thought it was all about."

For paintballers who play in professional tournaments with up to $50,000 purses, the spate of suburban violence and vandalism associated with their sport is vexing.

As a result, Dan Weldon, who runs Camp Splat in Henderson, N.C., is one of a growing number of field owners who say they'd accept a general ban on "outlaw ball" - or playing in non-sanctioned areas. Still, he says the main problem is unregulated sales of the guns at large discount chains.

Its portrayal in the mass media - like in a recent Super Bowl ad showing a horde of paintballers without protective facemasks, popping a referee in a no-fire staging area - sends conflicting messages as well, some say. "The retailer should kind of lay it down, that Junior is not going to be able to take it out in the backyard and wing grandma when she comes by," says Mr. Weldon. "Right now, there's kids riding around seeing how fast they can shoot a construction worker."

But innocent war games - even with paintball markers that, when used with face-shields, sting less than a bee - raise questions about the very nature of play.

"We have an almost cartoonish model of masculinity, and it's a violent one," says Randy Blazak, a Portland State sociologist and coauthor of "Renegade Teens and Suburban Outlaws." "Our archetype of an ideal male runs from John Wayne to Vin Diesel, and they always have a gun in their hand."

But sociologists admit there's little research showing what the long-term effects of such games are on society. "Some theorize that violent video games are a symbol of an escalation of violence and perhaps a cause of real violence," says Mr. Blazak. "There's another theory that by playing pretend-war, children are dealing with a desire to be violent so they don't need to be violent in the real world."

For her part, Estes is willing to let the justice system take care of the boys who pegged Chris, though she hopes - and for now believes - that they weren't out to seriously injure him. Their preliminary court hearing was Tuesday.

"Chris is going to have to pay for the rest of his life for their mistake, so I hope they learn from this," says Estes. "Hopefully it will put them on the right path if they were not on the right path."

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