An Army spouse takes cover in a paintball war during a portion of the Iron Spouse Challenge Sep. 11th, 2008 at Baumholder. German lawmakers have abandoned a recent attempt to make paintball or laser tag illegal. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
The German parliament’s plan to outlaw paintball, which could have affected fields at U.S. bases, has been pulled off the table for now.
Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, was considering a law that would have criminalized paintball and fined anyone caught playing the growing sport or operating paintball fields up to 5,000 euros.
But the German media reported Thursday afternoon that the parliament has taken a step back to conduct studies on the issue and it may consider placing age and dress restrictions on the sport.
A 15-man task force of officials from each German state, formed after a school shooting in Winnenden in March that left 15 dead, recommended banning paintball, reported the Berliner Zeitung, a newspaper based in Berlin. Members of the task force argued it desensitizes people to violence and they labeled the sport a "human disgrace."
U.S. bases are dotted with paintball ranges at Vogelweh and Army garrisons in Baumholder, Grafenwöhr and Hohenfels, to name a few. And five new fields are planned at Hohenfels.
It is anyone’s guess as to how any future bans would affect American paintball fields in Germany, Installation Management Command-Europe spokesman Ken White said.
"I monitor the international media. I always look at what is happening," White said. "Our legal folks and [Morale, Welfare and Recreation] staff was aware (of the move to ban paintball). We were not caught unaware that they were looking at this."
German politicians are divided on the issue of pulling the plug on the sport.
"Paintball is immoral. Therefore, we will abolish it," said Dieter Wiefelspütz, a politician from the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) in an interview with the Berliner Zeitung.
Parliament and SPD member Sebastian Edathy told Bild Zeitung that any decision on paintball should be made after careful examination.
"I do not see a direct connection between paintball and a killing spree as it took place in Winnenden," he said. "We should get another expert’s opinion and take it from there."
The law would have affected 300 businesses and about 500,000 Germans who enjoy squaring off against other paintballers, Arne Petry, a spokesman for The German Paintball League, told Stars and Stripes. There are 200 paintball fields in Germany, and a ban could put 1,000 people out of work, Petry said.
