paintball and Paintball guns have been around for over 30 years. Paintball guns started as marking devices for the forestry service to identify trees to cut or for ranchers to mark specific cows. As their purpose began to change, so did the innovation behind them. Paintball guns started as something very basic and consisted of a crude metal handle with a barrel. The original paintball guns were pump action and shot very hard paintballs. As the sport of paintball evolved, major paintball companies began to make guns specifically for the sport.