Because the pellets are small, about the size of marbles, they can hit the eyes dead-on without being deflected by the surrounding bones in the socket, a new study reports.
That small size, combined with a muzzle velocity of up to 300 feet per second, about the speed of some bullets, means if the paint pellet hits the eye directly, it can cause serious damage, even vision loss, the researchers say.
We thought we were being clever by crafting our own bbs out of wax, assuming the softer material would reduce the impact and eliminate injury. He started out upstairs and I was in the basement of our tri-level home. After waiting for him to make a move which never came, I decided to charge up the stairs myself. He fired as I made the corner at the entry, but missed. I fired back up the stairs and then he was bleeding.
I know, I know. We broke plenty of rules. Never fire your bb gun indoors. Never point a gun at a person. Never fire a gun at a person. Never use firearms without adult supervision. I think we actually did wear eye protection when we pulled this little stunt. We might have been dumb but we weren't stupid.
My point (almost forgot this part) is that kids, especially boys, play hard. They get hurt when they play. Regularly. You can cite paintball injury statistics to me all day long, but I'm not moved by them. The more paintball guns there are, the more injuries there will be, and this is a sport which has increased in popularity over the past few years. The more bicycles and skateboards there are, the more injuries we will see from those toys also.
Train your kids not to hurt other people. If you have kids, then you also have this responsibility. Any weapon in their hand, no matter what it is, is simply an extension of the individual.
