Council studies laws on public paintball play

By JANET ZINK
Published June 10, 2005

TAMPA - Gina Leber was walking her dog one evening after work when she saw a group of men and older boys dressed in masks and other protective gear playing paintball in a Seminole Heights park.

They were hitting each other, playground equipment, trees and newspaper boxes with exploding pellets of orange paint shot through guns made for the game.

She called the police, who she told her paintball was illegal only if the guns were aimed at a person or the paint hit private property.

The City Council on Thursday intervened on Leber's behalf.

They directed the city's legal, police and parks departments to report back in two weeks to discuss how to regulate paintball gun use.

City law prohibits the firing of any gun, air rifle or BB gun within the city limits without a written permit from the chief of police.

But it's not clear if that law applies to paintball guns, according to Assistant City Attorney Kirby Rainsberger.

"I'm not against paintball," Leber told council members. "But they can do it someplace else, not in a public park."

Since the first encounter, Leber said in an interview after the meeting, she has seen the men playing in the park at Henry and Ola avenues five times.

The paint washes off after a good rain, but the playground equipment is useless when it's covered with orange paint, Leber said.

"Why are they running the little kids off of their playground?"

Besides the mess, Leber said she's worried about the safety of people who pass within range. The players wear protective gear to shield their faces from the pellets, which can leave red marks or bruises on the body.

"On any given night after dinner there might be 10, 12, 15 neighbors out walking their dogs in the park," Leber said.

The paintball players, she said, are "taking the whole beautiful wooded area that has a stream that goes down to the river, where people picnic and walk their dogs and play Frisbee, and turning it into a war field."

--Janet Zink can be reached at 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 10, 2005, 01:10:11]