Thumpy's 3D House of Airsoft™ @ Scoop.it

Massachusetts’ proposed House Bill 3476 was heard in the Statehouse in Boston Wednesday afternoon, and was referred back to the state’s House Judiciary Committee.

What that means in a nutshell is that the proposed Airsoft/BB-Pellet Gun/Paintball and Sports Shooting KILLER LAW is STILL ALIVE, but NOT YET in a position to be voted on and then sent to the Governor.

We are waiting to pass on any video from Rob G. of FUBAR Airsoft or SISU MILSIM, who were part of the pro-Airsoft contingent of players and business owners in the Statehouse all day, trying to both get the message to supportive House Members AND coordinate with other groups opposed to the measure, including GOAL – the Gun Owners Action League in Mass…LINK HERE!

There is one important date today that I can not make.  But I will be there in spirit and ready to help where I can as backup-from-the-cybernet’.  GO GET ‘EM MASSACHUSSETTS! STORM THE STATEHOUSE and Crush H-3476 TODAY!

SHOT Show 2016 gets underway today in Vegas….actually out in the desert at Industry Day at the Range just east of the city, where airsoft/real-steel’s own MUEL will be a range safety officer! Huge back-pat for that one!

Thumpy is NOT in Vegas this year, however…we will be pushing out all the headlines and coverage from the airsoft and gun media you guys love, plus taking y’all down memory lane for some huge moments from the SHOT Shows ‘past.

And, there’s no better place to start than pretty much at the beginning of Airsoft at SHOT with our own buddy Tim “No Airsoft for Old Men” Ellwood’s story from his blog…way WAY back in 1987, Mr. Peabody!:

There are not many “new findings” from this abstract of a study from Children’s Medical Center in Dallas, Texas….involving injuries from improper use of what they term “nonpowder guns”…airsoft, BB, pellet and paintball guns & projectiles…Key Points presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual conference on October 25:

WEAR EYE PROTECTION AT ALL TIMES…

PARENTS NEED TO SUPERVISE USE BY MINORS…

AND, yet again, because many see these as “toys” and not “guns” (regardless of the supposition that airsoft and paintball guns are “powerful weapons causing increasingly severe and sometimes life-threatening injuries in pediatric patients….” yet another call to, you guessed it…legislate ‘guns.’

To wit we say…You can’t legislate away all risk, and you can’t legislate common sense. Period.

THIS is one for the history books…but, even better, a traveling exhibit that chronicles the 1980’s and 90’s Paintball “Arms Race”…a similar phenomenon to the one that’s currently sweeping airsoft businesses, fields and players.

Paintball Marshal’s Traveling Museum of Oddities is more than a ‘side show spinnoff’ for the ‘ballerz.  Captured on video in 2007 by Jay Holsing on his YT chan, it shows the progression of technology, from the tree-marking Nelson “Nel-Spot 007″ and SplatMaster up through the pump and fully-automatic offerings that changed the game, created its on levels of drama, intrigue and controversy…and eventually shaped paintball AND AIRSOFT into the games they are now.  Fascinating stuff that Thumpy remembers from the early days of our “other” game, and a cautionary tale that many in airsoft could do well to study and learn from in this age of instant celebrity, expertise and social commentary…learn before you burn, kiddies!

BUT, NO…they don’t need to be regulated as a dangerous big-bad-mean old airsoft guns, BB gun, or REAL Pew Pew guns are…we have “markers”….hoooBoyeeeee!

CLICK THE PIC to see the VIDEO and the whole story

IF you guys really want to know where airsoft came from, its hidden in the pages captured here on this very old and musty electronic-magazine pile at OLD PAINTBALL MAGAZINES.  The same growing pains, the same “Arms Races”, the camo Gucci scene, the growth of sites, stores and the industry.  The story of AIRSOFT is the story of PAINTBALL, and that’s why a site like this is very, very important to watch, scroll and learn from….”Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it….”  Ask TIM “No Airsoft for Old Men” Ellwood.  He was there….

Silly-Ballerz!

Man, FB is sucking it royally!  THIS PODCAST has been out for over a week now...and we're JUST GETTING THE REMINDER!  Thanks Zuckerschmuck!   Get into the details and find out if you can still win some SHOT Show SWAG!

Start listening at 12:30...and see what some of the "top guys" in paintball really think about the state of airsoft and their own game.  Remember this when GI SPORTZ wants to start selling your products....file this away.  Why, Silly Ballerz, why?

OK, apparently there WAS a beginning of how the Airsoft/BB-Pellet Gun/Paintball-Killing House Bill 3476 came to be.  What appeared to be a fast-track of the bill through the Statehouse on Beacon Hill was derailed and send back to committee on Wednesday, partly through the efforts of pro-gun groups including Gun Owners Action League/GOAL…and a bunch of our fellow-‘softers up-North, SISU MILSIM & ROB from FUBAR Airsoft and his guys included.

But, the fast-track-trickery DID have some ‘sunlight’ that was missed in the big run-up to this week’s continuing drama….in a hearing covered back on January 7th by WBZ-TV in Boston.  And, we finally get to see and hear from the “proponents” of H-3476, including the bill’s sponsor…and Boston’s police commissioner BILL EVANS.  You remember…the guys who told people to stay indoors/shelter in place after the Marathon Bombings as they “kept Bostonians safe” by forcible armed WARRANTLESS SEARCHES of private homes and businesses in the aftermath of the Marathon Bombings.  Yea, do you trust them to protect your rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” in our current situation?  This “JOURNALISTIC HIT PIECE” VIDEO…where we never actually hear from an opponent, BTW!…is infuriating!

SEE THE VIDEO AND READ THE WHOLE STORY AT THUMPY'S AIRSOFT NEWS AND COMMENT!   CLICK THAT PIC!

UPDATE FROM BOSTON!  Rob from FUBAR AIRSOFT and some of his guys are BOOTS ON THE GROUND to Storm The Statehouse...and we also heard from SISU MILSIM that she is going to be traveling down to Boston from New Hampshire to support the effort!

PLEASE PASS ON THIS POST and all of the links today and into the future.  Even though this is a short-notice hasty defense, the fight is not over yet!

SIGN THE PETITION! - LINK HERE

SHARE THE LINK TO Gun Owners Action League - GOAL...who are supporting Airsofters, 'Ballers and Airgun Sports Shooters in the battle to kill H-3476!

The Videos here say it better than we can in the time remaining, but MASSACHUSETTS House Bill 3476 faces an unexpected…almost SURPRISE….VOTE ON WEDNESDAY, January 27!

The following ‘softers lay out the story…but THIS LINK is the one all of you in or near Massachusetts need to see first…STORM THE STATEHOUSE is being hastily organized…and the details on WHERE TO GO, WHAT TO SAY and HOW TO BEHAVE are all here….THEN, listen to these well-thought and presented videos from SISU, JAVIER and ROB from FUBAR AIRSOFT to get fired up!   WE ALL NEED YOU TO TAKE THE FIGHT UP TOMORROW, as you state’s MINUTEMEN did in The Revolution!

CLICK THE PICS BELOW TO WATCH…and just as important, LIFT YOUR LAZY FINGERS AND SHARE THE HELL OUT OF THESE NOW! MINUTES MATTER!

From Paintball, to the MILITARY, and then to AIRSOFT.  How many guys and gals out there might have that in their resume? But, FLeZ tracks how it all came together for him.  Along with lessons-learned are lessons-shared.  It is what this YT ‘cat does in almost all of his videos…and why we love sharing what guys like FLEZ are doing for the game!

CLICK THAT PIC to see all his action and tips videos from the UK to YOU!

No matter what you “think” you know about the history of airsoft…its roots DO trace back to the early days of paintball…and the INNOVATORS like Gramps and Grizzly hold lessons that a lot of today’s airsoft biz folks could learn from!  Listen to this one carefully…and spread the philosophy!  GREAT series of interviews done by Bacci Paintball’s ‘chan before Gramps passed…see ’em all and learn more over at their YT Chan…CLICK THE PIC!

See, its not happening JUST in the USA….people can misuse any item, to the detriment of any game…paintball, airsoft, cars, motorcycles…Ham Radios….

Don’t be that guy….CLICK THE PIC to read the story, and thanks/hat tip to our buddy Ronaldo in K-Zed-N for pushing this one along!

Man, PAINTBALL and one company in particular take it in the ballzack in this week’s GAR P’cast!  Listen and hit the TWO TWO TWO TWO to leave the guys a “Hell Yea!”

Oh, no one will EVER mistake a paintball gun for a real firearm, certainly not police...who, in this story, can't even properly identify its look alike properties to a real firearm... AK, puhlease!  See, this is why Paintball needs to keep throwing AIRSOFT UNDER THE BUS!  Thanks!

I'd like to know if any crossover 'Silly-Ballerz/'Softers here might be able to properly ID that gun...so we can call out the company involved....PM Me at my FB (Al Covey-Thumpy)