(S. Africa) Warning over 'paintball gun' security guards

[Drizzt]

Warning over 'paintball gun' security guards

January 03 2008 at 07:36AM

The South African Intruder Detection Services Association has warned the public to ensure contracted armed response companies are registered to provide the services the client is paying for.

The chairman of the KZN chapter and the association's national vice-chairman, Mary Ann Jeffery, says it has come to the association's attention that a number of security companies are contracting with clients to provide an armed reaction service although the company does not legally own firearms.

"It would appear that their reaction officers are being issued with paintball guns in order to defend themselves and their clients. The law is clear... and, in this regard, precludes paintball guns and similar air-powered devices from its definition of 'arms'."

Jeffery said the association was concerned that clients were being intentionally misled into believing they were being provided with an armed response service when they were not.

"Unfortunately there are a number of new companies that have started operating in the Pietermaritzburg and Durban areas that fall into this category, Jeffery said.

"It is really disconcerting when you consider one of these reaction officers arriving on the scene of an armed robbery in progress and all he has is a paintball or pepper ball gun."


http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=139&art_id=vn20080103065648638C491047

 

[Dorryn]

pepper ball gun.

Where can I get me one of these?!

 

[hockeybum]

not sure about the balls, but you can fire them pretty much out of any paintball gun, Dog the Bounty Hunter uses them on his show

 

[AJAX22]

A peperball gun is a standard .68 cal paintball gun loaded with peperballs instead of paint.

If you go to the scene of a riot the morning after you can pick up all the peperballs you want, apparently they don't break when they hit fat people.

 

[The Deer Hunter]

^is that a joke?

Just as a general rule of thumb, your not supposed to pick up once fired paintballs.

 

[herohog]

not only that, but they have an affinity for water and will swell up from the morning dew!

 

[Cmdr. Gravez0r]

gotta love the ZA

All joking and pepperballs aside, the S. Africans are pretty serious about security. One of the things inscribed on my memory from my teenage years in SA is a cash-in-transit operation in my town outside Cape Town. On a city street corner was the bank. On each of the four corners of the intersection was a man with an AR keeping off the skelms. Criminals play hardball in a country where being murdered for your cell phone is not unheard of.

 

[jar_head]

well ive been a cop in sa for the past few years and one of the problems we have come accross are security gaurds "renting" thier pistols to armed robbers. so by equiping them with less lethal they are potentially saving lives!

in the same respect i have been hit with a pepperball and it did little less than p!ss me off!

 

[LegalAlien]

gotta love the ZA

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All joking and pepperballs aside, the S. Africans are pretty serious about security

+1 from another ex-South African

 

[41magsnub]

Don't bring a paintball gun to a real gun fight?

 

[KelVarnson]

Just as a general rule of thumb, your not supposed to pick up once fired paintballs.

How come?

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

I always thought you're just not supposed to refire unexploded paintballs, as they have a tendency to break inside your weapon and foul things up.

 

[ClickClickD'oh]

Pepper balls are all fun and games until you chop one.

Anyone who has played any significant amount of [strike]painb[/strike].. Er, paintball will know all about chopping a ball.

Not so entertaining when instead of just having soupy paint in your action you know have OC in your face.

 

[B yond]

www.pepperball.com

 

[newsmonster]

Cmdr. Gravez0r,

It's a common sight. They even do that when transporting cash to and from the campus ATM's.

You turn a crowded corner on your way to the book store and walk into a guy covered in chest\back armour, with an R4\LM4(?) rifle, a revolver strapped on and looking rather stressed - muttering something into a radio in his ear. You look over at another point of entrance and his buddy is over there covering that one.

Of course it's a gun free zone so I don't know why they would need to carry guns on campus

Paint ball guns? Ah, I've never heard that one. At least I have my own real guns left, not yet using paint ball guns


I suppose they could try and aim for the face or eyes...