Paintball - WARPIG - World And Regional Paintball Information Guide - News Translations Save Those Serial Numbers by Bill Mills - Photos by Dawn Mills September 2006 One of the downsides to the massive growth paintball has seen over the last several years is that there is enough of a demand for paintball gear, and market for used gear, that it has become a more desirable target for thieves – even to the point that a one web site recently published tips on how to steal equipment from tournament staging areas. Many steps can be taken to fight theft of paintball equipment – both in terms of making it less desirable to steal, and increasing the chances of recovery after theft. In 1963, the Southern California city of Monterey Park was besieged by a rash of hubcap thefts.

Everett Holladay, Chief of the city’s police force recommended that residents engrave their license plate numbers in the hubcaps of their car. This would make recovered hubcaps easier to return, and stolen hubcaps rather obvious when the thief tried to sell them as used. This community campaign soon expanded to the idea of making sure valuables had unique identification, and spread throughout the US, and even to other nations under the name “Operation Identification.” While it is not a nationally organized program, many police departments use the name Operation Identification for their public awareness campaigns encouraging citizens in their community to take some very simple theft deterrent steps.

On their web site, the Honolulu, HI, Police Department succinctly describes Operation Identification: “This program helps to take the profit out of burglaries and other thefts by making the stolen property easier to identify and harder to sell. Transformers 2 download movie. Burglars and other thieves thrive on stolen property, which can be easily sold because it cannot be properly identified.

Recovered property that lacks personalized identification cannot be traced and returned to the owner, and it is difficult to introduce as evidence.“ Applying this philosophy to paintball gear is simple, and involves three main steps – first identifying which pieces of kit are at risk, then making sure they are uniquely identified, and finally keeping a record of those items to be able to aid law enforcement or make an insurance claim if they are stolen. What is the most likely to get stolen?

Value and anonymity are traits thieves look for. Paintguns usually carry a good price tag. Very expensive customized paintguns, especially those with custom mill work or anodizing can sometimes surprisingly be less desirable than stock $200 in the box paintguns – because although they are worth more, they are easier to identify and that increases the risk of getting caught. Regardless, risk level, as they are often a player’s largest investment paintguns are well worth protecting. Surprisingly small items like pods or hoppers can make potential theft targets as well, simply because so many look alike and their value is low enough that players will rarely be very worried about them. Unique identification is the key to Operation Identification. Most paintball markers with price tags over $100, have stamped or engraved serial numbers.

10 Price: JT paintball guns are some of the cheapest on the market. They're probably best-suited to convincing a friend to dive into paintball, starting off a kid with the SplatMaster series, or just screwing around with some friends at work. JT does make the high-end Impulse, but that's definitely a speedball gun, so for you scenario players it's probably not even on your radar. Madame bamboo 1991. Some manufacturers keep a stolen gun database, and a quick phone call will increase the chance that your paintgun will make it back to you if someone tries to get it serviced at the factory or at a trade show. After letting paintball shops in your area know, they can watch for your serial number on used gear that heads their way.