Paintball safety stressed

Monday, March 29th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Paintball is a popular game played by 8 million kids and adults nationwide. But the Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a warning last week about the guns used to play the sport.

The carbon monoxide canisters attached to the guns have killed two people in recent years. But as News on 6 reporter Patrina Adger explains, it's all about educating players about safety.

11 year old Kyle Henson plays paintball every weekend at Paintball Sports in north Tulsa. He says he loves it. "My brother got me and early birthday present and said, 'Have a good time' and it started from there.â€ But the Consumer Product Safety Commission says these carbon monoxide or CO2 canisters are responsible for killing two people.

Last year a 15 year old boy died after he was struck in the head trying to remove a CO2 paintball canister from his gun. And just last month a woman was killed when the canister a bystander was removing from his gun flew off and hit her. "Normally when they take the tank off it's empty but if there's any compressed air in there this could shoot off." Paintball Sports owner Mike Schovanec says when removing the empty canisters from the guns, this valve should stay attached to the canister.

Instead players are unscrewing the valve from the canister, causing it to shoot off like a rocket. "The key you find in this sport is that its ignorance and we have to educate them." Schovanec says players need to make sure the valve doesn't unscrew from the can and point the tank downward or away from you and out of the path of others to prevent injury.

He says anyone who plays here is required to watch a video, adhere to the rules and wear protective eyewear before stepping out into the playing field, a big reason why Angee Jenkins allows here children to play here. "I won't even let them do it at home. I'd rather it be in an environment like this where it's controlled."