Paintball Gun Loophole Targeted

Police officers surrounded a man holding a dangerous looking gun in front of police headquarters at 1 Union Ave.

That man happened to be U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal. He had manufacturers —and a loophole — in his crosshairs.

Blumenthal was holding what turned out to be a paintball gun Monday to illustrate how real it looks when compared to an actual police Colt assault rifle. He was there to announce his plan to introduce federal legislation that would close a loophole in a 1988 law passed to make a distinction between real guns and imitations like the one he was holding.

“What we have here is a paintball gun and the patrol weapon that is carried by police routinely,” Blumenthal said. ​“In the light of day, when clearly displayed in this way the distinction between them may be readily apparent, but for a policeman or a bystander coming around a corner or working at night in a dimly lighted area there is a grave danger of confusion.”

Blumenthal said in 1988 Congress recognized the danger of police officers confusing imitation firearms for real guns, and passed a law that required that toy guns have an orange tip that would signal to cops that such a replica was not a real gun. But that same Congress allowed paintball guns to be exempt from the orange tip requirement. Blumenthal’s legislation would end that exemption.

The New Haven Police Department lauded the proposal Monday given its own recent problems with a paintball ​“war” that has scared people and injured a 10-year-old girl.

Blumenthal called on manufacturers of paintball guns to modify the ​“design, shape and style” of such ​“toys” so that the risk of confusion is reduced or eliminated.

“Mistaking the toy for the real thing should never happen and it can be prevented by changes in design as well the shape of these two products,” he said. ​“They should be clearly marked and conspicuously indicated. I’m calling on manufacturers to stop producing paintball guns that can be mistaken for the real thing.

“These risks are intolerable,” Blumenthal added. ​“Already on our streets, the scourge of gun violence is an epidemic that must be stopped. Real guns are dangerous enough without the confusion that results from mistaking paintball guns for genuine firearms. We must stop the scourge of gun violence and take common sense sensible measures that I’ve advocated in Congress to require universal background checks a ban on assault weapons and illegal trafficking and straw purchases and other kinds of steps I think we will make a priority in the next Congress.”

He said until his legislation is passed, manufactures could help save lives and stop injuries by voluntarily changing the design of the guns so that they look more like, ​“because its the right thing to do.”

Police spokesman Officer David Hartman said that the legislation would be welcomed in the Elm City and by police departments across the country.

“What we’re trying to do is save lives,” Hartman said. ​“We’re trying not to be the next national headline when a teenager or an adult or anyone gets shot by a police officer, or a store clerk in the course of a robbery. It’s unnecessary and can be prevented. If someone were to point this at me, or any other police officer, the result could be obviously tragic and fatal because myself or any other police officer would have their weapon drawn on that person in a split second. So we’re trying to prevent that tragedy and we appreciate the senators involvement.”

Blumenthal said his legislation would not cover what types of modifications need to be made to make sure that paintball guns looked less like real guns. That would be up to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and other federal agencies, which he said are eager develop such standards and enforce them.

He acknowledged that he wasn’t sure if BB guns, which have been at the center of two police-involved shootings in Ohio, are also exempt from the orange tip requirement. (They are according to this report from The Washington Post.) His legislation addresses only paintball guns.

Hartman said paintball guns, BB guns and other imitation guns are not toys. They can actually cause harm. He also pointed out that real guns come in fun colors too. A big problem lies in the ability of anyone to go buy these imitation guns at a local sporting goods store or Wal-Mart. He said that’s why the New Haven Police Department has called on parents to stop purchasing such imitation firearms even though it is legal to do so.

“A public housing complex inhabited by many people at nine o’clock at night is no time for your 17 year old to be out behind the building firing at people with a paintball gun and when confronted by officers pulls it out,” he said. ​“People have to take responsibility for their actions. If the case is that a parent has purchased that gun and is condoning that, shame on that parent.” (Hartman was referring to an arrest of a 17-year-old in the West Rock neighborhood. The arrested teen and his mother offered a different account of the arrest in this New Haven Register story by Juliemar Ortiz.)

Hartman said that the reality is that paintball guns were never designed to be used outside of contained environments such as controlled paintball games and team building exercises, and simunitions for law enforcement officers.

“It’s kind of morphed into worse case scenario,” he said.

The Manufacturer’s Side

Blumenthal said Monday that it would be easy for manufacturers to modify the paintball guns so that they didn’t look like real guns. Johnny Postorvio disagreed.

Pastorvio is the director of customer relations for GI Sportz, which manufactures paintball ​“markers.” GI Sportz is a Canadian-based company founded by professional paintball players and business owners.

Postorivo said the company already manufactures markers that come in an array of different colors, including those of your favorite sports team. He said the company manufactures nine different makers„ and only one is black. (An Indiana-based manufacturer, Tippmann, that GI Sportz acquired in 2013 does produce more tactical looking markers like the one on display at Monday’s press conference.)

He said there really is no way to modify the marker because of what it does and what paintball is: a shooting sport. Though there are no barriers on who can purchase a paintball marker, he said most of the people who do buy it are actual enthusiasts of the sport.

Like Hartman, he said paintball was never intended to be played in city streets, but in controlled environments such as on paintball fields and in arenas. At its height, he said, more than 10 million people were involved in the sport of paintball. Players, usually young men, tend to give up the sport in their late teens and 20s for other pursuits. He said around three million people play the sport today.

He noted that players have a habit of ditching there equipment at yard sales for cash, which means they can end up in the hands of people who don’t know anything about the sport. He said he didn’t think requiring paintball marker manufacturers to add an orange tip to their barrels would have much impact on business, but also didn’t see how it might address the concerns of law enforcement.

He likened the use of paintball guns to commit crimes, or just to make mischief within a city’s limits, to using a Louisville Slugger in a gang fight.

“Louisville Slugger didn’t intend for its bat to be used in the middle of a gang fight,” he said. ​“We didn’t intend for paintball to be shot in the streets of a city.”