[Assault Pioneer]

I've worked at a paintball field for 4 years and never once saw someone come in with a shitty canadian tire $34 pump action paintball gun and civilian rigs, there is always a starting level with paintball, usually a tippmann and some coverals or old hoodie, normal as most paintball games only last as long as your first night of romance, no need for ball hauling gear.

But Airsoft is a completely different animal, games can last for days, its not being elitest to have to wear bdu's and webbing/vests you gotta. So why all the kids/inexperienced showing up with stingers and sneakers?

The Airsoft community is its own downfall, most on here treat airsoft as their own society, the sport isnt very public friendly and most want to keep it away from others in an attempt to conserve it, Airsoft is a secret society not a public sport. the only way to attain information in canada is asc, and we all know the FAQ's are never read. we all found this sport by accident or word of mouth, not on t.v or in an article.

The newer generations of canadian airsofters more than likely discovered airsoft at Canadian tire or Walmart either that or their american xbox live buddies have talked about it so they googled it. All they see is these totally clear airsoft toys, not guns, and they want to play. Relating back to my first paragraph People show up to paintball knowing what to expect. they see the games on tv, read the catalogues and always know atleast someones who plays the sport. Airsoft does not have that kind of community so many are unprepared, under equipped and unwilling to challenge the veterans. the guns are seen as toy's so they expect younger people and a more casual setting when they go to a field. whenever explaining airsoft to friends I always had to go out of my way to explain REAL airsoft to them. Realistic guns will never come back to retailers and will only be available through asc, which is good, aswell as the clear reciever's of the G&G's and ICS' are guns respected by the airsoft community.

Its the lack of publicity combined with the flood of these ultra low quality crapsoft guns in canada, people have a known expectation to play a proper paintball game so they come properly equipped, in canada they think that the crapsoft guns are the standard till you point them to the Verifiers page, Mach1 or 007.

In scottland there is a law that you require a permit to realistic airsoft guns, all who dont have to buy ones with blue or green upper recievers and arent allowed to paint them. its not so bad at all because these guns are brands like ares, G&G, CA etc. very much like the clear reciever only guns here in canada. there are the realistic gunners and those who havent got the permit, but game performance does not falter. their games over there are massive and lots of fun to watch and play.

Its just the overpublicized crapsoft in the canadian tire vs the under rated real airsoft guns.

Crapsofters play in their own enclaves and when they want to reach the asc communities we seem to be doing a good job at saying "no, go buy a real airsoft gun" they either will or give up after that. and with more and more crapsofter out there the more realistic arsoft guns they will find and hopefully join us with. There will always be the asshole who will blatently ignore our rules and want to rape our sport just as there is in paintball.

We may have to put up with them on asc but not in the field, we can still turn them down till properly equipped and armed like in the good ole days. Like at my paintball field your not allowed to play in sneakers and a shitball gun, rent or get geared, and the real paintball community grew by a tenfold in a month. We can do the same in Airsoft And I suspect growth. and with growth, yes the groth of retards, higher population of anything comes with higher populations of negative, this is true to everything.

So if you stayed with me and my poor typing in summery.

1. Airsoft is a society that is turning into a public sport. there will be growing pains and resistance to change, from all sides (vets, noobs and the public)

2. Canadian tire, walmart and Bass pro are toys, not guns. they are the problem it seams, although none are in the fields. the clear reciever only guns are tollerable and should be bought instead of them. airsoft games are 18+ you should be able to afford one.

3. When the clear reciever only gun is more popular will and understood in the public eye similar to paintball. lesser will the "oh my god he's got a gun" 911 calls

4. I will not tollerate shit guns in my fields, neither should you. tell the noobs to rearm and regroup.

this transition will be bumpy at first, with more and more regulations and trials ahead, but I predict the elite will not be hindered in their gameplay, they do afterall get to choose who they play with, we all do. and the more the noobs watch the elite the more they will want to become them, and more combat effective players will hit the fields. however this wont happen for a few years. But I do believe a standard for gameplay and mindset will be established for airsoft thats public friendly.

Airsoft wont fall to idiots and lawmakers, its only in a rough patch. all we have to keep doing is saying "no" to the ill equipped or ill minded noobs and we should filter them out to create a respectable airsoft community. yes thare is always the idiot who takes it into the streets with his dumbass friends but they are the ones who generally only buy the shit guns, I havent heard a story involving TM's or CA's in a long time, and thats thanks to our asc community verifier regulation.

remember
Murphy's military law #123. Professionals are predictable, its the amateurs that are dangerous.

just keep saying no and we'll sift out the idiots with stingers from the respectable comrades