We should be taking a weekend break, but this news report from BBC just really bothers us. In the wake of recent shootings in Germany, the German government is moving to ban combat games and tighter gun controls. The parents of those killed by a gunman which went on Winnenden last March 2009 want an outright ban of pistols and high-calibre weapons. Worrying as it may seem, but there might be enough time for the German groups to discuss how it can be avoided.

Outright ban is usually a hit and miss thing, since guns are still accessed even if there's a total ban on firearms. Nor does a laissez fair approach address this as both do not address properly how people will be able to avoid gun violence. What is called for here is a reasonable approach to legislation that will be able to regulate the proliferation of weapons, whether replicas or real ones alike and come up with a win-win solution.

We all know that paintball or airsoft don't kill. The issue in Germany was responsbility at home of gun owners of storing their real guns that can be easily accessed by kids. There are many responsible owners in that country, and this one's more of carelessness or irresponsibility, and even if guns are banned, there will be ways to access these, criminals have not been deterred by laws to bring weapons. Only law-abiding airsoft and paintball players will get the severe hit here.

We call for a thorough discussion before any move to ban these "combat" games (how about boxing, fencing, wrestling, and martials arts which are combat sports too?) happens. Only regulation, whether self-regulation or legislated, can minimise problems confronting the use of deadly weapons, not ouright banning.

Read the news here.