42 replies to this topic

[The Infinite Shindig]

I thought I'd add some relevant content for anyone that may need some help writing a letter to get permission to Nerf. I added the bulk of the letter I sent a couple of years ago to secure permission for Apoc. I uploaded this to my filebox (thanks VT) , so you can access it. Feel free to download it and make changes and modifications wherever needed. Here's the link:

http://filebox.vt.ed...sur/nerfwar.doc

Cx, if you want to add this as regular content, I'll make it a little better looking for you so it can be posted under "Articles" or something.

I hope this helps out guys like Weasel and anyone else that is having problems getting permission to Nerf. Just remember guys, be polite and courteous; we want people to have a positive outlook on Nerf, not a negative one. For anyone that wanted/needed this, thanks for holding out until I got home and got a hold of my desktop's hard drive.

[FIDO]

Thanks a lot. That will probably let me and Weasel get back to having nerf wars. This is also bad for weasel because of my new xbow.

Edited by FIDO, 09 March 2005 - 07:55 PM.

[WEASEL]

me and Weasel and I

Nice. Ya I pmed him and he is haveing a busy time at school so I have to wait a while for the letter. I miss nerfing. I have so many gun Ideas that i'm working on but I can't use them.

EDIT: whoa, didn't see his new post. So many posts since I last replied... Actually only five what whatever. I'll be looking at that now....

Edited by WEASEL, 09 March 2005 - 07:46 PM.

[pinhead52]

I paintball and airsoft, and one of the biggest reasons I got into nerf is because they're toys to the general public, and we can play in parks and playgrounds and stuff. With airsoft people think they're real guns, and there's just so much bad publicity around paintball to even consider it. I say just use stock darts and they'll just feel stupid saying anything, at least that's my plan.

[AirApache]

I think it generally helps also to have nerfers of various ages, some adults and some smaller kids so that they don't think its just 'some crazy teens tryin' to make a disturbance.'

[GhostOfEternity]

As long as you dont have camo painted guns or anything it should be fine.

~GHOST~

[AirApache]

I don't know...my city would definitely fine me for possession of nerf guns in a public setting. A friend of mine got fined $1200 a few days ago just because his airsoft gun was not out of view in his car.

[Evil]

I don't know...my city would definitely fine me for possession of nerf guns in a public setting. A friend of mine got fined $1200 a few days ago just because his airsoft gun was not out of view in his car.

Huge difference between airsoft and Nerf, I imagine any cop would be fine with the difference and be approachable about such a distinction.

[J cobbers]

I've only had one bad interaction with Police and nerf, and that happened last fall when I was nerfing with some of the Michigan crowd (Uriel, Veggie, Alexthebeast and co.) from NHQ. Basically one irrate parent complained about us even after we moved away from the area he and his family were.

When the police came we were compleatly polite and explained calmly what the situation was and showed off our guns. The parent however used several explictives while litteraly yelling at us to the cops. The police were understanding but advised us to nerf else where because if someone were to be hit by a stray dart we could be charged with assault with an air rifle. We had a hole thread about this when it happened. So we moved our game to Alexthebeasts house and nerfed around there and the neighborhood and had a good old time.

Anyway if the police show up stay cool and calm, be polite and if they ask you to go have a back up place. Always respect other people using the park and be nice to them to. If they look worried ask if they are ok with you playing there, and don't give them any reasons to complain if possible.

[Bad Karma]

I don't think any of the RENers have had any problems with the the police (that's nerf related). We've just been basically kicked out of our neighborhoods a few time. Hah, yeah like Anniston Alabama's finest would actually mess with a few kids nerfing....We ARE in red- neck capital. As long as we don't get shot by an old granny on her porch we'll be fine!

[AirApache]

I don't think any of the RENers have had any problems with the the police (that's nerf related)

Hm... wait, so that means....!

[WEASEL]

I sent da email, a get a email back saying

      Thank you for your inquiry regarding use of the parks for your Nerf games.  I reviewed the Municipal Code which regulates use of park lands and could not find anything that would specifically prohibit your activity in the way you described.  Providing the foam projectile is soft and in no way could cause injury to a person or wild life, I do not see any reason you can not enjoy the park with your activity.

I would suggest however, that if the blasters in any way resemble a weapon or you and your friends are dressing in fatigues or similar clothing you call the Sheriff's Department Dispatch at 408-299-2505 in advance and let them know the park you will be at and what type of activity you will be doing.  In the event a passerby sees you playing, is concerned and calls 911, deputies will likely be sent to investigate.  By calling in advance it will help the responding deputies evaluate what is really going on.  Unfortunately, sometimes a mere game using life like weapons that is seen and phoned in to law enforcement can end up very tragic.

Thanks again for checking in with us.  If you have any questions, feel free call me at Blah Blah Blah

Regards,
Blah Blah Blah
Senior Code Enforcement Officer

So there you have it. I actually got a reply that wasn't a fill out form style letter back from the cupertino government. Now we can nerf! YAY. Just thought you guys would like to know.

PS-I modified the letter before I sent it.

[The Infinite Shindig]

I'm glad to hear you guys got permission to use the park. Just a word of advice, don't ever wear fatigues. It doesn't look good for our image, and for the most part, Nerf is done at close enough ranges that camo isn't needed. Remember people, this is Nerf, where shots are usually taken from 60' - 80'. At those ranges, there is no good reason for camo.

My typical nerf clothing includes either cargo pants or shorts, and a T-Shirt. I don't think I've ever used camo in my entire nerfing career, because there isn't a need for it.

Weasel, not that I'm saying you guys practice this, but your response is a good opportuniuty to get this message out to everyone.

Don't be a homosexual; leave your camo pants at home.

[FIDO]

The Infinite Shindig, thank you for your help. I don't know any of my freinds that have camo clothes, so I don't think we will have a problem. I wear the same stuff as you, but for some readon, I can't feel the dart, oh well, I guess I'll have to go by my freinds decisions. Thanks again for helping us (me, WEASEL, earl_the_bunny, and squirrel) get back into nerfing in the park. Time to start planning wars.

[WEASEL]

Don't be a homosexual; leave your camo pants at home.

Dang it. I guess I'll have to wear those when squirrel gets his paintball thing going. Hmm I guess that means no camo shirts either. Oh well.

EDIT: oh ya, what FIDO said, thanks for the motivation and everything.

Edited by WEASEL, 23 March 2005 - 08:31 PM.

[pinhead52]

Yeah, no camo. Ever since 911 it's no good. We used to run around in a park at night in camo pretending we were doing "black ops". After 911 someone saw us and the next week there was a blurb in a local newspaper about "nighttime terrorist training activities" in local parks. Just FYI.

[Evil]

Just make sure you respect the fact that its a public park and that you have to accomodate for other park-goers. Stay out of their way, call time-outs, allow others to pass an to enjoy the public park like you do. Good luck and let us know how things go!

[AirApache]

Hrmm. The one time that I called MY city to see if we could organize a nerf war...they said anything that fires projectiles (yes even foam ones) or resemble objects that fire projectiles cannot be used within the city. I even asked for special permission to play at a relatively open park, but they just said that even with police permission I'd get fined or whatnot. Crappy place I live in...

AA