yes i was joking with a lot of my wording as you can clearly tell, and i was using paintballing as an example because it is still using a firearm that can cause a lot of damage if used in the wrong hands, I was trying to demonstrate that throughout my adult life I have a lot of dealing with weapons both for hunting/pest control and for fun. Andand yes the whole rudolph thing, anyone could see that i was using humor throughout that paragraph and not meant seriously as you said. True i really probably should have brought this thread up a little bit more seriously without the jokes but I am a jokey person its the way i am. I do not like the idiots that go rogue with rifles and i appreciate the bad press everyone else gets when someone does something stupid so i am with you all the way there. I myself had to report some people who I saw using rifles on the land we use because they were shooting over the public highway and towards houses, they got dealt with seriously.
Also regarding pheasant shooting, it is illegal to shoot them out of season time 1st feb til october no excuses there, however in season time, yes it is considered a game bird and ideally shot at with a shotgun, however if you have land owners permission and your shooting range is very close (within 50 yds) then there actually isn't any law against it
http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/topic/127013-is-pheasant-shooting-with-air-rilfe-legal/