YES, paintball is in my opinion one of the safest sports around, IF played properly. During paintball play the players are REQUIRED to wear a face mask. This prevents any shots to the eyes and mouth. Besides a shot without a mask, paintball is a great and safe sport to play. The only accidents in my years of paintball experience have occured only by serious play. (Sprains, pulled muscles) But even these accidents rarely happen during paintball. So paintball is alot safer than football, baseball, and even basketball.
Well, I will recommend you go out and TRY the sport first. Some people aren't cut out for the sport, but most people are. I would recommend you find the nearest paintball field and play a walk-on game. Gun rental will run you about 25 dollars and paintballs will run you about 25 dollars also. If your having trouble finding a field near you check out www.paintball.com If you love the sport, buy yourself a gun and a mask and the price per game will drop dramatically. I usually pay about 25 dollars a day to play paintball, which compared to any other extreme sport, such as skiing is quite cheap.
While playing paintball the body's adrenaline is pumping to the maximum, survival instincts kick in and your brain is running in circles. If you are hit with a paintball sure it does hurt for a split second. It feels much like a bee sting at first, but after 2 or 3 seconds it feels much like a mosquito bite. Give or take a minute (Depending on how close you where shot at and where the hit is) you'll not notice it for the rest of the day. YET, until you get home you'll notice small red bumps (If you bruise easy BRUISES) which go away in a couple days. (They make great trophys...) Check out the picture above, it's about the worst hit you'll get.