mjh's blog

Photo of Paintball Wound

There are two things that bring more people to

this blog through Google. They are this photo of a wound from paintball and the words “clever trever.”

src="http://www.edgewiseblog.com/mjh/shot.jpg" alt="photo of paintball wound" />

Since many of the “clever trever” searchers

come from the UK, I trust they are not looking for my take on the Albuquerque Journal’s not-so-clever editorial cartoonist, John Trever

(Clever Trever Two, What An Ass We Have In Trever).

As for

the photo, I have to wonder, is it just morbid curiosity? Do paintballers want to see a wicked wound? Does it please

them?

Let me tell you the story that goes with the picture, if you don’t know it already. Two years ago, my wife and I were

walking our dog Lucky around our neighborhood after dark as we do every night. On this occasion, a car sped up behind us. We heard two

small explosions and each instantly felt searing pain in our backs. As awful as that pain was — and it was intense — it was nothing

compared to seeing the expression on Merri’s face when she cried “I’ve been shot!” while grappling with my own overwhelming fear and

pain. It was horrible and I wish a comparable misery on the shooter and his gang. The shooter who cackled wickedly as the car sped by.

Remember, guns don’t shoot people, idiots shoot people. And cowardly, brutal idiots shoot strangers in the back.

class="sig">mjh

PS- If you’re a cop or attorney looking to bust some thugs like those who attacked us, I have other

photos.

6 Comments

1. hiya!

   my name’s matthew, and i too found your page with google looking for “paintball wound”.

   yours was the first search

   result!

   anyhows, since you expressed some curiosity about those motivated to see a paintball wound, i felt qualified to shed a

   little light!

   i began looking for paintball injuries only after having played paintball for years. my normally intellectual

   friends and i would jump into the woods and shift into predator mode for a few hours… step outside our own reality for a bit!

   so as the years flew by, i became a papa and my son korben, who’s seven, wants to play with me. i went online in order to find

   photographic evidence of the consequences of irresponsible paintball behavior.

   much to my amazement and embarrassment, the

   majority of paintball wounds online are there as testimony to an attack by brain-damaged “kids” who can’t comprehend the terror and

   anguish a simple painball hit will create when suffered out of context.

   if you have done any research on the subject pf drive-by

   paintball attacks, i’m sure you realize how lucky you are with no permanent eye or ear damage from the attack.

   and it may be

   worth noting that i have personally received gnarlier hits than yours. very close-range hits on bare legs and arms can actually break the

   skin and sting QUITE A BIT. there art thou happy!

   well i hope you have better paintball experiences from this moment onward. the

   game played well can be huge fun. lets just hope the stupid among us wise up sooner than later, eh?

   matthew

   Comment by mjh — Sat 07/29/06 #

2. Wow! Now

   I don’t feel so bad for spending most of my time playing video game versions of paintball.

   Comment by Paintball Meister — Thu 12/07/06 #

3. I myself am an avid paintballer, and have been for a few years now. Storys of people being shot unwillingly is not a new

   one, but its a depressing fact. A few months back a similer incedent happend to me on my way home from work, it was heart breaking to

   think someone could sink to such a cowardly low. Realizing the contradiction of me playing paintball while still feeling outraged at

   getting shot must seem stupid but I am a responsable person and I only play against people who follow strict rules, regulations and

   saftey procedures.

   Over the last few weeks I have been working within my community to have our local athority put

   restrictions on the purchase of a paintball gun (it’s not a marker). The main goal is to implace an age restriction of 18 (right now you

   only have too be 10) I would also like to see some form of registry as would be done with a real firearm.

   Its great that you

   wrote about this for all to see and I hope that others will take action to keep their communitys safe from this dangerous trend.

   Comment by Erk — Wed 05/23/07 #

4. I read your comments and I feel that it is very unfortunate that there are people out

   there looking to use paintball supplies to hurt people. As usual, some bad apples can spoil it for everyone. However, I would like to

   say that the sport has evolved beyond just a pass time. There are professional leagues and it has become a way for people to become

   successful in a sport and turn professional. As in any sport, these skills can be learned at young ages and with proper supervision and

   training the person could eventually be a professional athelete in a growing extreme sport. It is very difficult to keep this sport

   alive and unfortunately if communities start registry’s it would discourage many people from the sport. In fact a registy would be

   expensive and difficult to administer and enforce. The money could be better spent raising awareness on the dangers of using equipment

   in public areas. Stiff laws or penalties limiting the ability to obtain a drivers license if caught abusing a paintball marker may be a

   great deterrent. Possibly rewards for reporting those abusing the paintball markers. Lists of people filling air tanks could also be

   kept for enforcement agencies to track down abusers. These are just some ideas to think about.

   Comment by Tim — Thu 10/04/07 #

5. Yep, I also found this through ‘paintball

   wound’ on google. wanted to see if anyone got one worse than mine today :P

   Mine hit nearly point blank in the hand, shredding the

   skin of and also cutting the perimeter of the impact. And yes, it hurt :P

   But sorry to hear about your drive-by incident, I doubt

   it was a pleasant experience for you or your wife.

   Comment by Charlie — Sat 10/06/07 #

6. I must be one of the few that found your site through just the term

   “paintball”. This page must be getting popular.

   I am sorry about your attack. I have been playing paintball for 20 years and only

   been hurt once when an idiot on the field had his air compression set double the allowable pressure. It hit me square on the top of my

   head while I was reloading and knocked me out cold. They said I was out for almost three minutes. The idiot who hit me of course got

   caught and was banned from that field for life.

   It is a shame some idiot would do something like to you. A paintball marker is for

   a paintball field and is to be shot at people who have agreed to participate. To use it for any their purpose not only puts peoples

   health at risk, but makes a bad name for a truly enjoyable sport.

   Sorry, I do not agree with the comments of the person calling

   for regulation and registration. We have too much government involvement in our lives as it is. it is already a crime to hurt someone.

   Those laws need to be enforced, which they are not – that is the problem, not an inanimate object.

   I hope that you do not hold

   this attack against all paintball players. We are for most part a polite crowd.

   Ed

   Comment by Ed — Wed 10/10/07 #

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