How long is too long to leave your gun pressurized?
One day? Three days? A week? A month? Makes no difference?

like "oldpb" seid, it's not really a good idea to store your gun pressurized, thats just being lazy and not safe what so ever.

Actually, I'm more interested in if there can be any damage to the gun leaving it pressurized, as opposed to frequently taking the tank off and de-pressurizing. Leaks or something like that.

I'm aware of the safety implications.

oldpbnoob wrote: Would be equivalent to leaving a loaded gun laying around.

Are you serious? Has anyone ever been killed by a paintball gun?
Keeping a tank on = Leaving a .45 on the kitchen table with one in the pipe?

I have three kids in my house all under the age of 10. I look at most things in this light. A paintball traveling at 280+ FPS shot within a 10 foot range could easily put an eye out and/or cause other serious injury to a child (or adult). Why do you think you are required to wear a facemask? I have been shot from around 20 ft away and had it break bear skin. I am a 6' 1", 250lb adult. What do you think it would do to a 3 year old child?  If you live in a house where there are no kids, knock yourself out man, do what you want. But if you have kids it would be both reckless and stupid to keep a pressurized, loaded paintball gun sitting around your house.

Knock yourself out.

Wow, this has gotten out of hand.

ThatGuitarGuy wrote: Then tell me that it couldn't do any damage.  Would you want this to happen to your 3 or 5 year old?

Now that you cleared that up, I guess I wouldn't want that to happen to one of my kids.
Was there anything about my post that suggested I thought it couldn't do any damage?

oldpbnoob wrote: Would be equivalent to leaving a loaded gun laying around. - Why do you think you are required to wear a facemask? - What do you think it would do to a 3 year old child? - But if you have kids it would be both reckless and stupid to keep a pressurized, loaded paintball gun sitting around your house. - Knock your self out

crotchetyoldpbnoob:

Thank you for your safety lesson, and permission to store my paintball gun in whatever manner I see fit - as worthless and extraneous as they may have been.

As I already know the necessity of keeping potentially dangerous objects out of the reach of small children, my original post was just an inquiry about the effects of leaving a gun pressurized (how the marker is effected, not the children). I did not require a visit and, subsequent re-education from the Safety Gestapo.

I still maintain that your assertion that a paintball gun is the equivalent to a real firearm is absurd and dangerous (to anyone who likes to play paintball).

It is statements like yours that lead to legislation and statutes requiring permits to own things (like paintball guns), strict regulation, or outright bans.

Requiring permits to own (pb guns) or restricting their use has already happened elsewhere in the world, like Australia (only recently became legal to own one) and Scotland.
Outright bans are being proposed in places like Germany, the UK and others.
There are places in this country where paintball guns have been classified as firearms and regulated as such.

Paintball guns have in fact been banned in at least one town in the home state of our next President (Lake Forest, IL). Bans have been in place or proposed in a host of other cities.
In Minnesota (where I reside), Minneapolis is considering a ban, and the city of Hutchinson already has one.

As an aside, soon to be Supreme Leader Obama is not shy about the fact he would like to see a federal ban all semiautomatic firearms, which will undoubtedly be put on the table in his first term. - I'm guessing your paintball gun is also semiautomatic, maybe even fully automatic. Perhaps you are one of those individuals who finds it necessary to modify your pb gun to look like one of those Evil Black Rifles, which themselves need to be outlawed.  Maybe the federal government will come to their senses and classify pb guns as firearms; then you may someday get a visit from your friendly BATFE agent to relieve you of your "weapon".  We probably shouldn't be allowed to play paintball anyway, because after all, aren't we just pretending to kill one another. There is no place for that in our wonderful utopian society.

Rest assured, there will be drastic changes in how this pastime is regulated, and it will be thanks to statements such as yours, "facts" like "People have been killed by paintball guns.", and the irresponsible actions of a few (like drive by shootings with pb guns).

Also, Is your 10 yr old incapable of screwing your tank onto your gun? If so, I'm sorry to hear that; if not, I hope you have them both locked up securely in separate locations.

 "Won't somebody please think of the children?!?

I really should have worded my question differently to have avoided all this confusion.
What I meant to ask was:
Does leaving your gun pressurized for any length of time cause damage to any parts (on the gun), possibly leading to leaking or failure of any other components?
I realize the danger they could pose to a small child and take the necessary precautions to prevent them from accessing it, so don't worry about safety issues.

EastSideRich wrote: Also, Is your 10 yr old incapable of screwing your tank onto your gun? If so, I'm sorry to hear that; if not, I hope you have them both locked up securely in separate locations.

Actually, I store all of my tanks in the basement, and most of my gear is in my office stored on top of a 6' shelf where no one can reach it. At this point, none of my kids is old enought to ever be at home alone, but when they are old enough to be, I may secure the tanks further. 

Also, to be more accurate, it is irresponsible idiots leaving their loaded guns within reach of kids with no supervision, bank robbers unloading fully automatic 'hunting rifles" at police, and other offenses that lead to laws and legislation for weapons control. I would imagine, if you looked deeper, you would find the main reason for the bans on PB markers in the areas you mentioned stemmed from vandalism and/or misuse by unsupervised kids. Which do unfortunately lead to statements requesting such bans.

Lastly, I voted for Romney.

Thanks for rewording your question. Have a lovely day.

Edited by oldpbnoob - 05 June 2008 at 2:10pm

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/05/health/main591234. shtml

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/07/13/ national/a124524D04.DTL&type=bondage

http://www.injurysite.com/widower-of-woman-killed-in-paintba ll-accident-launches-safety-crusade/

http://www.nbc10.com/print/3880790/detail.html

Granted, only one of these was from a direct equipment malfunction, but it serves a point, the safety information on there needs to be followed, or someone can be hurt or killed. Out of curiousity I flipped through my GF's VS3 manual. In no less then three seperate spots it said clearly "Never leave the marker pressurized when not in use, can cause seriuos harm/death"

I can agree that the firearm example is exaggerated, but only so far. The point is that something that can easily cause injury if mistreated is simply lying around waiting to cause harm to someone.

Although I realize most bans (as of now) are due to "vandalism" (if you can call water soluble paint splotches vandalism), and juvenile delinquents shooting pedestrians, state or federal bans, if they take place, will more likely be due to the "danger" posed to our children by these dangerous "weapons".
We live in a place where our government believes one of its duties is to protect us from ourselves. Politicians and activists love to enact feel good legislation to make the world a safer place.
 We need to be very careful as to how we characterize everything. I doubt paintballers have a very powerful lobby, and government officials and moms generally dont play, so they will have no qualms about regulating or outlawing it.
All it takes is enough squeaky wheels proclaiming things like this:

------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S=3474691

Bossier City, LA
 "these paintballs are weapons, this paintball fires up to 300 feet per second. You could get your eyes shot out, it could break the skin, it's very dangerous."
Bossier City Councilman Scott Irwin drafted an ordinance to ban shooting paintball guns within city limits. The other reason for the ordinance? Irwin says, "a constituent called me saying someone shot a paintball gun at his house."
     Irwin wants to curb incidents like that one, saying paintball guns could damage houses and hurt animals. "One reckless person with a paintball gun running through a neighborhood could do quite some damage,"

----------------------------------------------------

http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20041101/bb-pellet-paint ball-guns-dangerous-to-kids

BB, Pellet, Paintball Guns Dangerous to Kids

Experts Say Don't Characterize Them as Toys

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Or this one from today
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_9488284

South Jordan considers ban on fake guns

 South Jordan city leaders are considering a ban on air guns, BB guns, paintball guns and some firearms replicas
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Or again in my home state:

http://www.pressnews.com/articles/2007/12/05/osseo-maple_gro ve_press/news/5mgcc12-5.txt

 

Maple Grove amends dangerous weapons ordinance

Capt. Smith said he directed several officers to review the ordinance for possible revision. He said much of the existing ordinance dealt with hunting situations as the city used to be more of a hunting community a while ago. "With the growth and development in the city in recent years, we felt there was a need for an expansion in the definition of dangerous weapons," Capt. Smith said. "We addressed the use of paintball guns, aerosol guns, etc., that were not mentioned in the existing ordinance."

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Or how about from the "expert advice" section of familyeducation.com

http://life.familyeducation.com/emotional-development/violen ce/41037.html

Question: I'm amazed at the number of parents who allow their children to play "paintball." I think it's just another shoot to kill game. What do you think?

Answer: I agree with you. Funding kids to shoot people with guns is unwise in a society where injuries from firearms are now the leading cause of death for teenage boys. It doesn't take much imagination to conclude that boys will love shooting at each other with guns, but surely parents can come up with a better use of their sons' time.

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It only takes a couple of these to cause bans to be enacted, as long as people can be convinced it is for the safety of our children:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourview/2007/08/nl_man_wants_handgun _ban_after.html

N.L. man wants handgun ban after nephew killed in Toronto

Tuesday, August 28, 2007 | 10:45 AM ET

A man from Newfoundland and Labrador has set out on a campaign to ban handguns and automatic weapons after his nephew, Ephraim Brown, 11, was shot to death in Toronto in July.

Now, Brown has sent a letter to Ottawa demanding that handguns be made illegal.

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Once enough people proclaim paintball guns are indeed very dangerous, and unnecessary, they will be banned.

This, I believe, is why one needs to be careful about doing things like comparing paintball guns to real guns.

My other point was that I don't need a safety lesson. I never said anything that would imply I didn't think a paintball gun could hurt someone. Obviously they can. Many people keep loaded firearms in the house (including myself), this does not mean they are "laying around the house".

Sorry about the sloppy cutting and pasting, I was kinda in a hurry and for some reason, my cursor isn't showing up

 

From Merriam Webster

Main Entry:

equiv·a·lent 

Pronunciation:

\-lənt\

Function:

adjective

1: equal in force, amount, or value;
3: corresponding or virtually identical especially in effect or function
4: equal in might or authority

Equivalent means equivalent.

I NEVER ASKED ABOUT LEAVING A PRESSURIZED PAINTBALL GUN "LAYING AROUND"!!!!!!!!!!
Guns are locked in a safe. I have my own work-room in the basement full of sharp objects, tools, chemicals, other dangerous things and stuff I don't want broken, like a paintball gun. THIS ROOM REMAINS LOCKED SO CHILDREN CANNOT GAIN ACCESS.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE SAFETY OF MY CHILDREN; I CAN TAKE CARE OF IT WITH OUT ADVICE OR DIRECTION FROM PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET.

 
 

Edited by EastSideRich - 06 June 2008 at 1:00am