From the BBC comes this rather chilling story about how Germany may outlaw paintball and laser tag. (A similar story from Spiegel is also avaiable.) The proposed bill comes in response to a school shooting at Albertville School.
Thankfully, lawmakers in the US have had more sense than this. As far as I know, paintball and laser tag are both still legal in all 50 states. As a long-time laser tag player, not only do I think the ban is a bad idea, but I believe that when paintball is outlawed, only outlaws will have paintball.
The lumping of laser tag into the same category is a particularly troublesome one. Most laser tag centers (most notably the corporate-owned Laser Quest chain in the US and Canada) have made ever-so-slight changes to the Player’s Code or equivalents thereof, even going as far as getting rid of “play to survive.” I don’t see how anyone can get the typical laser tag game, which usually has unlimited lives, mixed up with any type of war simulation.
In short, this is an overt move toward a thought-police state, and should be reupdiated as such. If you’re in Germany, please let your legislators know just what a dumb idea this is.