Rob Turner sprinted for cover behind a fallen tree as shots whistled past his face and perforated the leafy plants covering the floor of a forest just outside of Rushville Turner knew the safety of the tree's cover would be short-lived.
He was being hunted.
Peering through the toppled tree's twisting roots, he raised his M-4 fully-automatic, carbine assault rifle and pressed it into his right shoulder. His gloved finger quietly slid to the curve of its black trigger. Weapon poised, Turner crept through thick brush protruding from his cover's tattered branches and stepped into a shallow clearing. Suddenly, the sound of rustling leaves was muted by an eruption of gunfire.
Two days later, Turner was back at Ball State University working on a class project - unharmed.
The senior criminal justice major's military exploits are made relatively safe by the increasingly popular and realistic Airsoft-replica firearms.
Invented in Japan and introduced to the U.S. through toy makers like Daisy Co. in the 1980s, Airsoft's fan-base has spiked in recent years.
It has ranked among the top ten most searched for items during the holiday season according to the 2007 Hitwise index. Airsoft's popularity has increased with its realism. Many Airsoft guns have a weight, composition and recoil identical to that of their real counterparts.
Turner said the crucial difference between Airsoft guns and real guns is that Airsoft substitutes bullets for 6mm plastic BBs that deliver a "bee sting" sensation on impact.
Turner and his roommate, Jeremy Livingston, founded Ball State's Airsoft Military Simulation Club in January.
"I met Jeremy at an Airsoft event ... he told me he went to Ball State and we decided we should see if anyone else on campus was interested in the sport," Turner said. "We sent out an e-mail and got an overwhelming response."
Turner said the Cardinal Tactical Response Team, with a dozen competing members and many more informal players, formed shortly after the e-mail invitation. Although the team name is a tribute to Ball State's mascot, the CTRT has yet to receive official club status from the university.
Turner said gaining the CTRT's club status is difficult due to the realism of the sport and the widely-felt fear of guns on campus.
He said Airsoft's realism can hinder basic club activities.
"We run into a lot of issues with local authorities; we let the police departments know where we're going to be and when were going to be there, just in case someone sees us and calls the police," Turner said. "Unfortunately, the realism is kind of a double-edged sword, it works for the reenactment part of the game, but at a distance, I can see how people could get scared that we're using real guns."
Ball State director of public safety Gene Burton said Airsoft guns have caused problems for university police officers.
"We have had several calls about subjects with guns on campus that turned out to be replica weapons," Burton said. "The last one that comes to mind was at Bracken Library last year."
Burton said he believes Airsoft guns pose a public threat.
"I have seen and heard of too many instances when an officer injures or kills a person brandishing what turned out to be a replica weapon," Burton said. "Some of these weapons are so realistic that an officer does not have the opportunity to distinguish it from a 'real' gun in a stressful situation."
Turner said, despite some of its drawbacks, realism in equipment and play is what attracts players to the sport in the first place.
"It's different from paint ball where you just see who can put the most paint down the field the fastest," Turner said. "It's more realistic ... it has more of a tactical mind set."
As a founding member of another controversial local club, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, Turner is no stranger to university opposition. Turner said there is correlation between the university's fear of the real guns advocated by SCCC and the fake ones used by CTRT, one that prohibits both clubs from prospering.
"I would love for us to be an actual Ball State organization ... but I don't think that will happen until the day Concealed Carry is allowed on campus," Turner said. "Some people don't see the correlation ... once Ball State realizes guns aren't the problem ... once they realize students are mature enough to handle real guns maturely, it wont be a big issue to let students join a school club that uses replicas for reenactments."
With or without university approval, Turner said the CTRT and the Airsoft community will continue to grow. In February, the CTRT was able to host a statewide, military simulation event, Operation: Red Scorpion, which boasted a register of more than sixty well-armed Airsoft players.
CTRT members are planning a similar event in late May.
In the meantime, Turner hopes to bolster the CTRT's membership, holding capture the flag-style matches on a regular basis, and will continue in his advocacy of gun ownership.
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