JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A sport involving fake guns has Southside neighbors concerned.
The sport is called Airsoft, in which players shoot at each other using replica firearms and plastic pellets, and the players are playing on city and private property without proper permission.
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"All I want is just to have fun," Airsoft player A.J. Dobson said.
That fun is causing concern among residents near what is known as Hogan Field, which is near Southside Boulevard.
"It backs right up to a residential area, and people have been calling me, complaining because they see what looks like people with real guns and camouflage outfits on and it scares them," Jacksonville City Councilman Don Redman said.
"I understand the concerns with the community, all the people," Dobson said. "They don't want to get shot. I mean, everybody doesn't want to get shot by anything: paintball, Airsoft, BB gun or anything."
About 50 people play Airsoft on Hogan Field. A small portion of it is owned by the city, but the majority of it is private property.
"We can't allow them to continue doing this without permission, without proper organization," Redman said.
The problem is, Redman said he can't figure out who the property owner is.
"This property was bought, and they were going to put condominiums in there and they illegally tore down a bunch of trees," Redman said. "They got fined and left town, and we're having a hard time getting a hold of them."
Redman said the city can close off the public portion of the field, but until he gets a hold of the private property owner, he technically can't kick the people off, and neither can the police.
"If we lose a field, then where am I going to play?" Dobson said. "And I've already invested all this money. I've been playing for 10 years. It just goes and sits in the back of my closet."
Dobson said players take safety precautions by wearing protective eye and face gear, and they do their best to keep the game away from nearby homes, he said.
"We try to enforce some kind of rule to keep everyone in the field and only shooting towards the field," Dobson said.
He said getting hit by an Airsoft pellet doesn't really hurt, but it could cause bruising.
"I don't think I would want to be hit by the Airsoft pellets, and I'm sure the residents wouldn't, either," Redman said.