Just imagine that, employees carrying guns at the world's most popular video sharing website. You might want to work there, provided you've got the brain of a rocket scientist or a Nobel prize winner, then chances are you might have get the shot to work for them. But working with guns? Check this video made by Richard Ryan of RatedRR when he gets to visit Youtube's HQ to discuss about gun safety:

Funny video, but sad. All those stupid and jackass videos about people playing with real or replica firearms, these  rile up gunban advocates and even reinforce politicians to propose stricter bills just to score political points. While the internet is a great tool for sharing information, it also amplifies issues when you can find at one place, a great collection of videos of people improperly handling firearms, or playing airsoft with no safety precautions; and kids allowed by parents to run around with airsoft guns to shoot at their sisters or other neigbour's kids on public roads and parks. Just watch this video:

I'm sure you have seen more of these types of videos, no safety, just for kicks, and plain stupid. It can be lethal or might just cause serious injuries.

What Youtube and RatedRR want to emphasize is to show proper handling of firearms, whether these are real or not. As for our part as airsoft players, it's about being more proactive at inculcating airsoft safety in ourselves and among our team mates. We should not be afraid to frown upon and strongly object to people improprely handling firearms or disregarding safety instructions when playing airsoft.

So, how do we then promote gun safety and lessen such stupid videos?

At Youtube, there is a comments section for each video to point out mistakes when airsoft players, and even real steel owners show off their guns. If you get blocked by the video owner, there's always that "Like" and "Dislike" buttons that are represented by the "thumbs up" and "thumbs down" icons. What I would prefer for you Youtube, is to totally bury such videos just like those done in comments sections of many websites when stupid gun videos achieve a certain number of dislikes.

Furthermore, what is needed are a lot of well-produced gun safety videos. There are associations of airsoft retailers such as UKARA in the UK and the Airsoft Safety Foundation in the US. Whilst their main purpose is to promote their industry, it is also very imperative that they invest some of their time and resources to provide instructional videos for their customers. Real steel makers and sellers producce such, why not airsoft businesses? And they should not stop at making one-shot safety videos; they should always update such instructional videos when circumstances or newer safety measures get approved by safety authorities. Also these videos should attract the target audience by making these well-produced.

But why wait for them? If you've got a video camera and HD cameras are cheap nowadays, you've got a knack for creative writing and some video directing, why not gather your team mates and make an airsoft video? I'm pretty sure some skirmish site owner would allow you to use the field for free in the name of safety.

One of the best ways is for the airsoft businesses to crowdsource such airsoft videos to airsoft players themselves. They can organise a video contest with a gun safety theme and let airsoft players run wild with their imagination to produce some compelling airsoft safety videos and try to win great prizes.

Get those cameras rolling, time for more safety videos. As for bringing guns to the workplace, forget it (unless you work for a firearms company).