Council proposal seeks
to regulate paintball guns
BY COLLEEN LUTOLF
Staff Writer
MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Jim Florek of New Brunswick displays some paintball accessories outside Impact Paintball, located in Edison.
WOODBRIDGE — Paintball fans may soon have to transport their paintball guns in their trunks or risk a fine by the police.
Fifth Ward Councilman Robert Luban proposed the new ordinance that seeks to ban paintball guns in any public area in the township.
The ordinance was introduced at last week’s council meeting.
The new law would allow paintball aficionados to transport their paintball guns in the trunks of their cars, but not within the passenger compartment of their vehicles.
If a paintball gun is found, loaded or unloaded, on a person or inside a vehicle, the owner may be subjected to a $100 to $1,000 fine and may be assigned community service not to exceed 90 days or jail time up to 90 days, according to the ordinance.
"I’ve been reading in various papers that people have been using paintball guns in muggings, or that people have been walking down the street and shot in the eye with a paintball gun pellet. It is a weapon and should be treated as a weapon," Luban said.
Mark Costa, a national competitor in paintball competitions and owner of Impact Paintball in Edison, said he understands officials’ concerns but that the ordinance only affects players of the sport, not criminals.
"Bad kids are going to be bad no matter what the circumstances. The people that bans like this affect are not the trouble makers but rather law-abiding citizens," Costa said.
Many paintball participants play in the woods and not in licensed facilities because the cost of going to a facility can be as much as $150 per person, Costa said.
"Is it the right thing to do?" he asked. "Probably not. They may or may not be supervised or run the possibility of being hurt. But games of tackle football are dangerous too without the proper safety equipment and supervision, but they still play," he said.
"For a bunch of kids to go out to an abandoned stretch of woods after school with proper safety equipment on and run around and exercise is a good thing."
Woodbridge police Capt. Charles Rowinski said the department does not track the use of paintball guns used in crimes so it was not possible to determine if the guns were being used for that purpose.
"Mostly it’s kids using buildings, homes and businesses as targets," Rowinski said. "I don’t recall them being used in a lot of crimes, but I would support [the prohibition], sure," he said.
Luban said he appreciates paintball as a sport, calling it "great fun," but he said he cannot support anyone playing in an unlicensed facility, even if there is no intent to cause harm.
"I do not think it is safe to be playing in the woods," he said. "I suspect they’re not even wearing the correct protective body armor."
He said the paintball guns are a potential lethal weapon and compared a paintball gun’s lethal capacity to that of a regular handgun.
"A stray paintball gun pellet could come out of the woods and hit someone. It’s not permissible to — instead of going to a licensed range — target practice out in the woods with a regular gun. It’s not any different," Luban said.
"We’re not restricting purchases or requiring licenses," he said. "We just want to make sure it’s a safe sport."
Costa said he expects his sales to decrease as a result of the ban.
"I don’t know how it will actually affect my sales, but anytime there is a change like this, it is usually not for the better," he said. "I will keep my fingers crossed."