Are you under 18 years old? - Discussion Thread

[Combine]

I'm underage, and waiting...

Man it sucks my scanner isn't working, I actually read Greylocks post and made a sketch of him as a huge Hulk like monster with big sharp teeth and a belt of ammo over his shoulder while he luggs an m60 around the battlefield riddled with dead bodies ripped to pieces. The finishing touch was the bubble over his head that said " No really, I'm not such a bad guy!"

Oh well, since its broken I guess il let it to you guys to imagine the drawing.

[FieroGT]

One underlying theme I've noticed over the years, is most newbie posts are usually about finding cheap airsoft, making cheap airsoft, buying cheap airsoft and or importing cheap airsoft.

Maybe it should be stated somewhere in plain terms, these arent cheap toys.

Its kinda funny how things have changed since I started almost 6? years ago. I think I was 16 when I bought my first AEG, with my own money I worked for, without my parents knowing. Which is exactly what we strive to avoid these days. I cant help but feel like a hypocrite everytime someone tells a newbie to wait till he's 18. :smack:

[Greylocks]

Misread; getting your parent's Informed Consent is the goal. Playing around their back is not smart.

[firemachine69]

Originally Posted by Greylocks

Fiero, you had your parent's consent. That's fine. The ones that dont are the ones we have problems with.

Err, he said, without his parents knowing...


But the problem is not them owning airsoft, it's:

A) liability of the parent(s)

and some will argue on this here (in terms of importance)

B) the greater liability of our sport with a minor that will either be influenced by peers or just act on sheer stupidity (aka "playing in the park")

[Wh1t3y]

good stuff

but realistically, responsible minors can play. I know of several who have come and watched games, earned the respect of players and have ordered guns through respected members...The member has to really trust the minor because the responsibility is then on him, and if the minor screws up, its the sponsors ass. Mind you, these situations are few and far between, usually close friends for years or family. IMHO, it is the only responsible way for minors to play.

thank you DROC, and I intend to go to a game sooner or later. But right now my mind is set on good grades and finding a job. but hey, I have 4 years. No need to rush these things a mate?:P

Sorry, new to forums. I don't really know how to quote yet.

[Greylocks]

As I said at the start, there are exceptions to everything, but those are the basic rules that apply in General across Canada.
Let's not fall into the 'what if' game.

[FieroGT]

Originally Posted by Greylocks

Misread; getting your parent's Informed Consent is the goal. Playing around their back is not smart.

Absolutely agreed. But I'm sure I'm not the only one who got started out this way, and just thought I'd remind some of the guys who have been around awhile that we all started out once as a newbie too. Maybe we didnt ask to be spoon fed information, or what the best AEG was, or ask about buying airsoft to make a movie with, but we all started at the same point.

Okay maybe it was a fairly obvious point, but at least its in writting now.

[Shugart]

Originally Posted by active1x0

I will tell you exactly why people from the States post here. Because this is one of the best Airsoft Communities in the world. Deal with it. You have a huge, highly-dedicated and (mostly) mature regular-user base, a verifiable shitload of useful information, and most importantly, lots of benevolent and patient members who are willing to answer questions.

Find me a forum centralized in the USA that is as strong as ASC, and I will show you a green dog.

You should be encouraging people from around the world to come and post on ASC - the more the better; plus, you can always ban those who choose to be immature pricks. I absolutely do not advocate underage Airsofting, Chairsofting, Clearsofting, Budgetsofting, whatever...the law is the law (except when it concerns alcohol :cheers: ). I don't care if you think you're "responsible" or "mature" - if you're breaking an Airsoft law, you're not. An Airsoft gun has the capacity to easily kill and get you killed. There is a reason laws exist.

With that said, here's some information for people in the United States: It is illegal to purchase an Airsoft weapon if you are under 18, but legal for you to own one if you are 16. This is the national law from what I've heard; if I am incorrect, by all means correct me.

Also - state laws have the ability to supercede federal ones!!! Check with your LOCAL laws before you run around with a gun. Same for city and county laws.

And here is the double edged sword. Do we try to make the community more close knit, and only cater to the Canadian crowd? OR, do we try to find a common blend, of both a place with a wealth of information, but also a localised area for Canadians to come and discuss airsoft.

I personaly would prefer it if posting privelages had to be earned. For Canadians, it would mean getting age verified by attending a local game. For internationals, make a section of the forums where anyone can post, prove you know what your talking about, and boom, you got posting privilages to more sections of the board.

Wanna know something REALLY cool? go to www.alexa.com and compare our internet ranking to those of other "famous" airsoft boards. Last I checked, the only one that outranks us is Arnies, but not by that much. Now thats saying A LOT.

[Greylocks]

Originally Posted by FieroGT

Absolutely agreed. But I'm sure I'm not the only one who got started out this way, and just thought I'd remind some of the guys who have been around awhile that we all started out once as a newbie too. Maybe we didnt ask to be spoon fed information, or what the best AEG was, or ask about buying airsoft to make a movie with, but we all started at the same point.

Okay maybe it was a fairly obvious point, but at least its in writting now.

Dont generalize, I found out an an early age that lying to my parents was one of those things you dont want to do. But back then, political correctness and coddling was not on the horizon.
So no, even when I was new to firearms ages ago (no airsoft then), there were no lies involved.
It allowed me to get some really rare guns right off the bat, all I still own, all are on the Prohibited list.

Honesty towards your parents is a sign of respect and maturity. You may not like/enjoy the decisions your parents make, but until you are legally responsible for your own ass, that just plain too bad.

[Greylocks]

Originally Posted by Shugart

I personaly would prefer it if posting privelages had to be earned. For Canadians, it would mean getting age verified by attending a local game. For internationals, make a section of the forums where anyone can post, prove you know what your talking about, and boom, you got posting privilages to more sections of the board.

That is the basic idea that is being pushed. There are variations on that idea, like how much can be read-only, and by whom.

Let's say it's read-only until some form of verification. Drawbacks? Some folks cant post yet.
Advantages? A near-100% drop in stupid questions because folks will have NO CHOICE but read. Then they will have to get their ass in gear to go meet folks.
The moment they meet people, it will further reduce the number of stupid questions.

The final effect is this website would become far more instructional.

It wont solve the under-18 legal problems, but it will reduce them and it will be a guarantee we cant be held responsible for anything they do and may try to pin on us.
Responsible kids, 16+, who get parental consent will probably get to play and post because they will have made the effort to follow the rules.

Dont tell me that reading, and then meeting people, is impossible unless you live 1000 miles from anyone. If you have nobody around, you dont need an airsoft you cant use, right?

[Combine]

I'm afraid that if we restrict people from posting until they go out and meet people at a game, no one will want to bother. Some might say this is a good thing because it would eliminate the people who aren't "serious" but in my opinion I find it a little too much.

[RUBBERDUCKEY]

Im 16 and I find alot of people durring this age are irresponcible and want to cause troubles. Ony my street their 2 kids aged 14 and 15 has those canadian tires gun and shoot around our streets and forest. The reason I know this is their always those yellow crossman .12 bb's everywhere. I dont understand how parents buy their kid these so called airsoft guns when they know they are up to something. It gives a bad name to the game we play. I think we should sign some sort of petition to stop the selling of so called "airsoft guns" at all thease stores. Canadian tires, walmart ect.......

[Greylocks]

Originally Posted by Combine

I'm afraid that if we restrict people from posting until they go out and meet people at a game, no one will want to bother. Some might say this is a good thing because it would eliminate the people who aren't "serious" but in my opinion I find it a little too much.

If they 'cant bother' to meet us, I dont see why we should 'bother' to help them. What do you think this is? A Microsoft help desk?

Until they can bother to do something, maybe they can bother to Read? That IS something they can do.

Folks who cant 'bother' to make any effort tend to be folks who are trying to lie their way into the sport, or want to be spoonfed.

[Shugart]

I totally agree with what your saying. But what about international players, or players who just can't meet up?

As a site, there should be some general area for world wide chit chat. Again, prove your knowladge there, get let into the full Canadian community.

It also allows for a place for people who do have a few honest questions in Canada, but have no idea on what to do, but at the moment don't have posting privelages across the entire forum.


I think it would act as an amazing filter. The site would build with usefull information, both to the community and to the Web. If people can only post stupid questions in one area, most people that don't wanna be botherd, know exactly which area to avoid. But people that generally wanna help, know where to go.

And as an added bonus, the vast majority of postings in the privleadge section would actually be usefull. This way, people without posting privladges can access usefull information, fast. And people who have proven themselves the ability to post, post.

[Affliction]

Suggestion #1
Why not write a basic program in Visual Basic (Likely won't take any longer than 10 minutes if you know what you're doing) that presents an Airsoft quiz to a person (Perhaps 50 questions?) that tests their knowledge of the related laws and the sport itself. At (successful) completion of the quiz (100%), it would give them a designated key to register an account on ASC (1 key could be used or a simple algorithm could generate them).

Summarized: Give newcomers a quiz and access to the information section.

While nothing is 100% effective, this would still help to weed out idiots (Except the ones willing to sit there and guess every answer).

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Suggestion #2
Create a new petition system that asks a potential new user a few airsoft questions. A few designated ASC members can review the application and approve/disapprove the application. Approved applications would result in the user being given a key to register.
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Banning ALL players under 18 solves 1 thing: Restricting minors from this site.
I'm sure there is many adults who are considerably irresponsible as well. Even if they're old enough to be considered legally responsible for their actions, it still doesn't do Airsoft (in general) any good when they fuck up.
-VM