so my nephew got hit with a paintbal gun...

[Bullwhip]

My non-legal opinion (IANAL):

Paintball hits unprotected eye can cause permanent blindness (serious bodily injury)

Paintball hits unprotected temple could conceivably cause death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Snelgrove" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Boston PD. Pepperball gun is just an extra spicy paintball gun. You really don't want to get hit in the face.