Paintball enthusiasts will still be able to fire their guns within the Oregon city limits as long as they shoot on their own property or at something they've received permission to take aim at.
Oregon Police Chief Darin DeHaan said a proposed ordinance to ban shooting a firearm within the city limits does not include paintball guns.
The Oregon City Council is expected to discuss ordinances next week that would ban the discharge of firearms and make hunting and trapping inside the city limits illegal. Another ordinance would also tighten the rules on paintball activity.
If the ordinances pass, it will be illegal to discharge a firearm in city limits, DeHaan said.
"No shooting at targets or anything," said DeHaan on Tuesday. "But paintball guns on the other hand, can be shot on private property as long as the person shooting has permission from the property owner."
DeHaan said the paintball can't strike something the shooter doesn't have permission to shoot, i.e. someone else's car or house, or a person who hasn't given permission to be shot.
"So citizens can run around and have a paintball war in their yard if they choose to and if they can do it without the paintball traveling out of their yard," said DeHaan.
He said he was not trying to outlaw paintball in Oregon, but needed to tighten the rules concerning usage.
"The problem with paintball guns is that they really don't cause damage to a house's siding, but people are very annoyed when their house is all shot up with paintballs," he said. "So we can't charge criminal damage to property because it is more of just an annoyance or nuisance."
He said making a new ordinance will make it unlawful to shoot something without the owner's permission.
"They can feel free to cover their own property and selves with paintballs, just don't do it to someone who doesn't want it done," he said.
The council will meet on Monday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Oregon City Hall.
The paintball ordinance states:
Paintball guns
(a) Prohibited acts. No person shall fire or discharge any paintball gun within the city except on private property with the permission of the owner of the property and provided that the projectile fired will not traverse any space used as a public way or any private property when the owner of that property has not granted permission.
(b) Penalties. Violation of this Section shall be punishable by a fine in an amount not less than $150 nor more than $750 for the first offense, and not less than $250 nor more than $750 for each subsequent offense.