We have all been been bothered unsupervised by kids running up and down the street or on somebody's backyard (without permission), playing airsoft that upset the village, or frantic 911 calls about kids brandishing guns. If you haven't seen any in your area, then the best way is just go Youtube and start searching for kids with airsoft guns. You'll just grit your teeth at the carelessness of young people. I always cringe when I look at the Youtube video feeds on this website.

We all wish that kids just get some sense of responsibility and respect for guns, whether these are replicas or not. Shooting your kid sister may be fun, but it's really a dumb way of using airsoft guns. Besides you may never know that you'll hit someone in the eye at home or across the fence. Many accidents reported by hospitals from BB guns are caused by careless kids, and the most worrying about these injuries are eye-related ones.

I don't have a kid yet. But if I ever get to have a boy who shows an interest in airsoft, I wish that boy were Tyler Severa of Vinton, Virginia.

The 12 year old boy put up an airsoft club and persuaded his father to rent a 5-acre land in their area so that his club would have a proper place to play airsoft. He has been an airsoft user ever since he was 6 years old, and have wanted to be able to play airsoft properly, rather than playing indians and cowboys in the garden. For such a young man, taking the initiative to put up a business in airsoft so that he can enjoy the hobby and at least earn something out of it, is something that we would like young people to do.

When you have nowhere to play, rather than shooting bbs at each other on the street with cars passing by, or people walking their dogs, why not band together and try to find a place where you can play airsoft safely, and earn from it? It doesn't take much rocket science to find a place. But of course, learning a few basics in running an airsoft skirmish site would help and many members of airsoft forums would give some information on how to go about with an airsoft site.

While Tyler's airsoft club, called the Star City Airsoft Club, just opened last month and with no regular scheduled games, he hopes to invite more players to try and check his site. There are four things that he accomplishes: 1) a proper place to play without annoying the townsfolk; 2) encourage more airsoft players in his area; 3) show that airsoft players are really responsible ones; and 4) earn from airsoft.

This is not only for kids, but for adults alike as we also call ourselves boys with big toys. Tyler's initiative is a shining example for all airsoft players and we wish that the likes of Tyler multiply.

We might be seeing an airsoft tycoon in the making.

Photo: Screengrab of video taken by Rebecca Barnett of The Roanoke Times.