Too Afraid To Ask #1

The short answer is that either is acceptable and anyone who argues otherwise is likely being pedantic. There are some situations where marker is preferred and even the only option allowed.

They have always been a gun (but have always been a marker)

Though there are other definitions, the term gun generally refers to something that fires a projectile. Early paintball guns were used to mark trees and cattle, hence the name marker. This means the dual names started from day one.

The early game of paintball was intended as a survival game. To this day being hit in paintball is referred to as a death, but this was not always the case.

In the early 2000s paintball was growing astoundingly fast. With this growth it began to fracture into two main camps, woodsball and speedball. Woodsball kept the tradition of the strategic survival game. Milsim (military simulation), was extremely popular with camouflage and paintball guns modified to look closer and closer to real firearms being the norm.

Speedball on the other hand actively distanced itself from the roots of the game. Some tournaments went as far as to ban camo. Instead players wore bright colored jerseys aiming to look more like motocross riders instead of soldiers, in fact many of the jerseys were simply rebranded motocross jerseys. Many of the terms and jargon tagged along for a long while, but this quickly changed.

Shootings, Terrorism, and Public Relations

To this day paintball is often sold as a first person shooter in real life. There were even fields set up to mimic those in Call Of Duty specifically to bring in fans of the game. This put paintball in an awkward spot with growing concerns from parent groups over first person shooters and other violent video games. You can argue that many of these concerns were baseless, the damage was done and paintball began to distance itself further from its survival game roots.

On top of the growing outcries around violence in video games came the war on terror. There have been multiple instances of terrorist groups encouraging their members to use paintball as a means of training for combat scenarios. This was not a good look so for a time paintball began to distance itself further and further from anything involving violence.

Guns were only called markers, no one was to call paintballs bullets or pellets, and kills became eliminations. This continued for some time but words like guns and kills have come back into the game in the last few years with some major exceptions.

Modern SOE, Facebook, and the Algorithm

Though paintball has largely embraced that there is nothing wrong with using the term gun and its association with firearms, terrorism, and violence was unwarranted or overblown, on the internet things are a bit different. Websites like Facebook have very inconsistent content moderation around paintball. Looking on Marketplace I can see multiple paintball guns for sale despite them being against the rules, but paintball Buy Sell Trade groups often have strict rules around posting prices and pictures that include the trigger. Some call it a myth but it seems like many have had their posts taken down by automated content moderation unless the trigger has been blurred out. Paintball companies seem to be able to post pictures and videos without issue so no one really knows what the rules are so working within them is getting harder and harder.

YouTube seems to be having some similar issues, particularly with live streams. Some have had their videos taken down for being mistaken for firearms. Firearm videos are restricted on YouTube but are allowed if they follow some guidelines, but much like Facebook these uploads are subject to seemingly subjective content moderation. As such many videos avoid using terms like gun or trigger in their titles. Live streams are often pulled down if they feature a paintball gun without much if any recourse if the automated systems think they see a real gun. Black paintball markers have been particular 

Long Story Long

In most situations it is fine to call a marker a gun, but don’t be surprised if on some websites or forums it is best to stick to marker.
If you are looking to pick up a paintball gun, be sure to check out our guide for new and used guns under $500 here.