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Laser Pointers Classed as Weapons in Australia
An anonymous reader was the first to point to an article in the Sydney Morning Herald which says that New South Wales (of which Sydney is the capital) will prohibit the possession of certain types of laser pointers, defining them as weapons, and make it an offense to carry any laser pointer "without a lawful reason." (Similar coverage at news.com.au) Western Australia apparently beat NSW to the punch, and the federal government of Australia announced earlier this month it will treat laser pointers much like firearms, which, in Australia, is really saying something. The restrictions come as a reaction to incidents (not confined to Australia) in which the lasers were trained on planes, distracting pilots.
While we're at it, let's ban bright beams so drivers can't be blinded either!
This is a little excessive, and I challenge the govenrment in NSW to define a lawful reason. this law seeks to punish everyone for the actions of a few idiots. personally, popping balloons with the things is a lawful reason to carry :)
Kids! Bringing about Armageddon can be dangerous. Do not attempt it in your home!
Fricking sharks with fricking laserbeams attached to their fricking heads.
I think therefore I am... a Linux geek.
I would make laser pointers illegal too with all those willing and able sharks out in the surrounding waters!
They aren't banning class 1 laser pointers (won't cause eye damage) or class 2 laser pointers (your natural blink reflex should be sufficient to protect you from eye damage). They're only banning high powered class 3 and 4 laser pointers (may cause eye damage and need to use eye protection). Most laser pointers are class 2. To be honest, I think this is a good thing. The less idiots with potentially dangerous lasers, the better. A class 2 laser is good enough for most people, and if you really need a bigger one (i.e. not just to compensate for your small breasts/penis), you can get a permit.
I thought the Aussies were all like, "Mate, that's not a knife. Now *this* (pulls out a massive machete), this right here is a knife."
I wonder if they'll start confiscating boomerangs next.
The summary states that "certain types" of laser pointers would be banned, and the article explicitly states that only "the most powerful" of the devices would fall into this category. I don't think it's applicable to hand-held pointers or laser/pen combos (ie, most of what you can actually buy anyway). Granted, that green laser that can burn paper would probably be banned, but that's no great loss.
Imagine that - an article about Australians & an American mentions Crocadile Dundee
NOONE's EVER DONE THAT BEFORE.
we bow before your awesome humour.
if my pet shark carries my laser pointer for me?
I dunno...
Ban guns because guns kill people.
Ban lasers because lasers blind/distract/kill people.
Can we ban cars? Cars kill more people then both here...
How about trains? Been a few people killed by them...
Hospitals? Lots of people die/get killed in hospitals...
These incidents are, overall, extremely rare. In-flight they are not an issue at all. Furthermore, pilots better be able to deal with them, since there are lots of other sources of bright light that may cause them to be temporarily blinded (or experience the "photic sneeze").
If lawmakers are just itching to make a new law, make it a specific law that says that it's illegal to carry a laser pointer on your person, outdoors, within 2 miles of the runway, where it could be pointed at planes taking off or landing.
Somewhat stupid, sure, like the first post talking about banning headlights so we can't blind other drivers.
But then after stories like this on salshdot: http://slashdot.org/articles/07/08/09/0412215.shtml, I'm not the least bit surprised?
You can tell how powerful someone is by the magnitude of the crime they can commit and be able to get away with.
.. because a number of idiots have been flashing planes on landing approach to the airport.
..
Apparently whatever lasers they're using are powerful enough to work from several suburbs away, so catching them is quite problematic. They just sit there and flash for 15 minutes and then drive away. By the time the police get there they're long gone, so it's not really feasible to catch the loons.
Luckily no plane's crashed yet, but there's certainly enough danger to warrant the ban. As per usual a few idiots spoil it for the rest of us
compared to the chaos that will ensue after the cats of Australia have found out what lawmakers have done with their favorite toy and rise up as one to slay them.
Monstar L
and I stayed silent.
Then they disarmed the ewoks, and I stayed silent.
Then they came to disarm me, and there was no-one left to speak up.
Quidquid Latine dictum sit, altum videtur (anything said in Latin sounds important)
It's illegal to have headlights above a certain brightness level, or perhaps it's above a certain number of lights - but there are light configurations you can put on a car that will get you pulled over if you have them on for street driving.
Now it's not illegal to have said lights mounted, so that's the point where the car analogy breaks (as they always do). But it does show your point is not as ridiculous as you had thought, because having really bright beams pointed at traffic is in fact a valid safety issue.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
FWIW, I'm one of those who've been injured with a laser pointer. It took a momentary glance up the street after leaving a Newtown bar with friends for me to be left with a blind wiggle across my right eye, from the lower right to the upper left, running right through my fovea. I'm unable to read unless I use my left eye, because with my right there just aren't any words there. I can see the big picture, but no details. That was July 2006, and two years of partial blindness makes a hell of a difference to life. Forget watching fast paced movies and having a clue what's going on, get ready to read 1/3 the speed you used to, and forget being able to look at code and tell the difference between { and ( without using a 20 point font.
And perl... it's all but incomprehensible.. oh wait, I learned that after being blinded. I kid I kid.
The thing about the tools who use laser pointers like this is they can be so far away nobody has any idea who they are, where they are, the beam is silent, and about all you can tell is it's over-that-way-somewhere. The bouncers around that night said they'd seen a laser pointer dot bouncing over guests through the evening, but thought nothing of it.
Whether or not they should be banned is one question, but comparing them to screwdrivers, knives, or axes is being a git who doesn't turn their brain on. At least if some bastard had come at me with a knife they'd have been caught, and at the very least been beaten into a pulp by either my friends, or the bouncers.
The laser pointer tools though - anonymous, quiet, pretty much undetectable, and their weapon leaves absolutely no evidence behind of what it was apart from really fucking bright.
Have pilots really been blinded by lasers pointed from the ground? Because the pointer can't get within a thousand feed of a plane, and actually even more at the angles that can reach over the plane's body and into the pilot's windows. At that distance, these laser pointers' beams are spread out pretty wide, so the person pointing them can possibly see the dot from that far away. So the brightness on the tiny fraction of that dot's area that actually falls on the pilot's eye is pretty small. Even more problematic is that your hand shakes. It might be unnoticeable at close range, but tiny angular deflections at the base of an angle extending a quarter mile or more to a plane makes the dot wiggle all over the place. It's hard to aim the laser even close enough to stay anywhere on the whole plane, let alone through the refracting windows and into a pilot's eye, 1/8" across.
It just seem so unlikely. Is there any proven examples of this happening, or is it just paranoia, and maybe totally unrelated pilot errors they're conveniently blaming on something no one else saw, someone impossible to catch if they did exist?
--
make install -not war
With all the great white sharks surrounding Australia this would have been the perfect opportunity to equip them with lasers and stave off the Indonesian invasion!
and the ewoks are all teamsters!
I bought a "extra bright" laser pointer from Edmond Scientific. It turns out it's a Class IIIa with about 5mWatts of output. Most others have substantially less. I'm still vary careful about using it around reflective surfaces and no matter how fun it is, I won't harrass my cats with it.
So unless you have in fact harassed your cats with it, how would you know how fun it is to do it? Explain that one, you CAT HARASSER!
Since the police have amply demonstrated that they cannot catch the idiots who misuse the pointers the general public is to be punished.
The idiots will still have their pointers and will still misuse them with impunity.
When you can't control what you're supposed to, you control whatever you can.
Under Australian law any device that projects, casts or shoots anything that is injurious, noxious or noisome is a firearm. We don't need new laws.
Laser pointers do !
So since a handful of people do something stupid with a laser pointer, AUS outlaws them. I've got to think that far more deaths are caused by car accidents as a result of people being 'brighted'. Will they outlaw high-beams. They should probably outlaw really bright directionally focused light sources altogether. Better outlaw water while they're at it. I mean, look how many people drown every year.
There have been half a dozen or so such incidents in Australia in the last few months, including one which involved coordinated beams from multiple locations directed at the same plane.
E.g.:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/08/2211257.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/11/2214689.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/29/2202704.htm
As an Australian who flies quite a lot, I'm extremely happy for them to ban these things if it stops morons from blinding my pilot on final approach. The fact that there have been coordinated attacks is also evidence that it is more than an incidental problem.
Read Pynchon.
Homer: A high powered laser is not a weapon, Marge, it's a tool. Like a butcher's knife or a harpoon, or... or an alligator.
Did they ban the posession of the sharks, too?
but the laser inside a DVD writer is just as powerful (pop balloons, light matches) although less accessible.
If people were genuinely trying to disable pilots (a feat of aiming that's so close to impossible as to make downing an aircraft by throwing stones at it look credible) they could easily extract these and use them in the same way.
politicians are like babies' nappies: they should both be changed regularly and for the same reasons
Mod parent up. This is the real reason.
Cool! That means I'm armed and dangerous.
Finaly I can start robbing banks. The not-having-enough-money-to-buy-a-gun is no longer a show stopper.
Surfing will be a lot safer now that sharks don't have frigin lasers on there heads!!!!
I carry around a class 3A ( 5mW) laser pointer, which is perfectly legal in Europe. From Class 3B onwards, you need to be a ctrained in laser safety. Would the 3a make me a weapons carrier in Australia?
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
They just need a warning label, like 'Warning: Do not point laser at remaining pilot'.
Having had laser pointers shone in my eyes several times while riding my motorbike, I feel that if I had broken the bastard's arms, I think that would have counted as taken "appropriate" act of self defense.
Worst case was a BMW X3 with the kids in the back seat (with out safety belts fastened) the both of them shining a pair of laser pointers in to my eyes while we were traveling at highway speed.
Dodged out of the way and pulled ahead of said BMW and let them pull up beside me at the next set of lights. dropped my visor to get the driver an ear full about the kids shining the lasers in my eyes only to find that he (their dad no doubt) was actually telling them stuff like " shine it over there at that cyclist" "get that pedestrian over there". nice thing about right hand drive cars is that the ignition keys are in easy grasp from an open drivers side window.... I don't know how long it took him to fish his keys out from the storm water drain - I was long gone by then
Lasers class 3 and up are already prohibited in many countries, at least the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.
Welcome to the club! I would offer you a welcome gift basket, but it's being held up in legal pending approval of the government that all products in it are certified non-lethal.
We've prepared for you a chair. You'll need something comfortable to sit in while you wait for years and years of court cases, as standing that whole time is just uncomfortable.
I see you've found our complimentary golf-towels. Oh, no, we don't have a golf course. See, the government doesn't trust us with any small object that travels at anything resembling a high speed. The golf-towel is to dry the nervous sweat from your brow as you sit on the edge of that comfortable chair as the courts decide on cases that could either classify you as the law-abiding citizen simply for doing the things you've always done or declare you a criminal simply for doing the things you've always done.
Oh, and we have over there our Screech-o-mat(tm), a device that you can pull the lever on to remind you of the pointlessness of arguing your case that you're not a bad guy for simply owning a useful tool, because all you'll get if you DO defend yourself is the screeching and wailing of fear-mongers and politicians who are slowly stripping away your rights and liberties "for the children." Oh, there it goes. Yes, it's normally that loud, and yes, the "arguments" it spouts are all direct quotes from the people who think you're a danger to life, the universe, and everything simply for being Not Them. I guess Bob needed his daily reminder.
Uh-oh, Phil over there forgot to use the Screech-o-mat again! Don't mind him, he'll wind down in about 10 minutes or so. That's what happens when you don't use the Screech-o-mat, you start to wonder why the world doesn't make sense and wonder if you're living in a madhouse. Yeah, that's why he's shouting that at the top of his lungs...oh, hey, he ran down quicker than usual. He must not have had his morning coffee...oh, no, wait...there it is. His soul just got crushed under the realization that the inmates are running the asylum and there's really not much that can be done about it anymore, as everybody in power seems to have checked their common sense at the door and lost their claim ticket.
Don't worry, you get used to it after a while. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go use the Screech-o-mat.
I have no tag line
People only do this sort of pathetically stupid crap because there are no consiquences for doing it. (Much like being an AC.. hrm)
Proving that someone pointed a laser at an aircraft/vehicle/monkey is difficult. Proving that someone is in possession of a laser pointer is easy.
Personally, I recommend beating the crap out of anyone who shines a laser pointer (or even one of those really bright LED flashlights) in your eyes... at least anyone that does so for humor value. (That is to say, if you can't see and you hear the phrase "Do you know why I pulled you over?" don't just come out swinging... I doubt the result will be as desired)
On the other hand, as many other people have pointed out, going around and banning things because they are potentially unsafe is a slippery slope. Its really dangerous to through fruit off an overpass into traffic below, but I don't recommend that we criminalize everyone that has a watermelon in their pants... er... possession.
Australians simply have, being descended from deported criminals, certain inborn criminal tendencies which now reveal themselves in the abuse of laser pointers against trauma helicopters. So it's clearly unsafe to let them get their hands on one.
I think the real problem is not the inbreeding but the cross-bbreading with sheep that does the real damage.
If you're near the landing strip, maybe the pilot is looking down.
If you're on the flight path, he's looking AROUND. Which tends to exclude down because very few aircraft are flying temporarily on the ground.
Now if the laser were to dazzle off the cockpit and still be able to cause blindness, that's a different kettle of lobster.
PS How do you get your astronomy pointer working if you can't point it up? There aren't that many objects you can see through the earth...
If you don't taste anything in your orange juice tomorrow morning, that's not iocaine, honest.
I hear the population of sharks-with-fricken-lasers-attached-to-their-heads is quite high in Botany Bay which is on the approach to Sydney airport.
!sig
It's OK to say that about Sydney or Perth but Melbourne and Adelaide were founded by freemen, even if Melbourne's founders were unauthorised.
Sounds to me like we need a technological solution.
/really/ crash an airplane.
If laser pointers are this dangerous simply banning them is not going to be much of a deterrent against someone who wants to use one to
I wonder if some kind of coating can be applied to the windows of airliners that can reduce the intensity of laser beams without compromising pilot visibility?
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
Hey /.ers, I have a question. I was thinking about another possible reason to ban the use of class 3 and 4 laser points and it occurred to me that they might be used to damage the security cameras that are popping up everywhere. Is that even possible?
Is the laser inside a DVD writer visible to the naked eye? If not, manual targeting could be more difficult.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
should be outlawed as inhumane and cruel weapons(blinding weapons per Geneva convention), not merely a restriction and jail sentence.
THese things are not "toys". Its on the same level of responsibility as giving kids machineguns.
direct quote from wikipedia:
The output of laser pointers is generally limited by ANSI to 1 mW or 5 mW in order to prevent accidental damage to the retina of human eyes. Usually, pen lasers are class 2 or class 3a lasers, which require extended viewing times to damage the retina severely. "The risk to the human eye from transient exposure to light from commercially available class 3A laser pointers having powers of 1, 2, and 5 mW seems negligible."[7] The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has determined that Class 3a lasers could cause injury to the eye if viewed directly for approximately 0.25 seconds, although it has cited evidence that exposure to visible lasers is "usually" limited by the blink reflex of the eye, which they have timed at just under 0.25 seconds.
in short, you merely have enough time to blink to avoid PERMANNENT DAMAGE to retina. And thousands of kids own these "toys".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_safety
"Infrared lasers are particularly hazardous, since the body's protective "blink reflex" response is triggered only by visible light. For example, some people exposed to high power Nd:YAG laser emitting invisible 1064 nm radiation, may not feel pain or notice immediate damage to their eyesight. A pop or click noise emanating from the eyeball may be the only indication that retinal damage has occurred i.e. the retina was heated to over 100 C resulting in localized explosive boiling accompanied by the immediate creation of a permanent blind spot.[2]"
Enjoy your vision, while it lasts.
It really is virtually impossible to train the laser on a plane on purpose. Unless, or course, you have some kind of targeting help, such as a scope attached to the laser.
I played with laser pointer, and I can tell you it is extremely hard to train the pointer onto a moving car (~40km/h) just from a 12th floor.
With the plane, the only practical way to achieve that (with a plane) is to stand in front of the landing plane, then the plane will apear relatively steady.
BUT, from even a short distance you won't be able to see your laser's spot. See, the plane has its headlights on... Those will overcome a tiny reflection of the laser.
do they think that lasers are light sabers?
laser, n.: Failed death ray.
That's even better than the forum captcha "irony" postings.
SIG: HUP
You're thinking of New Zealand - In Oz we hump koalas :-)
Fortunately I bought a green laser pointer from Dealextreme.com (claimed 50mW, probably 30mW) a while back. I was thinking of buying another as they won't be able to be imported again but one is enough considering the limited novelty value.
,as lasers are everywhere in CD and DVD drives and can be turned into pointers if you know which model to buy and have some basic electronics experience.
I wonder if it will affect the number of incidents of lasers shined into aircraft cabins
There seems to have been zero investigation as to why people are shining lasers at aircraft at airports, are they local residents angry at noise levels or people looking to (potentially) cause wanton destruction?
I would expect that kind of language at Denny's, but not here.
Throw every laser pointer carrying citizen in jail and let them rot. Actually, let's extradite them to Gitmo so we can torture them like the terrorists they really are. Come on Australia, let's beat America's record of 1 in 100 in jail! Incarceration for all!
I wonder if business execs and office people have to under go a thorough background check in order to buy laser pointers. After all we do not want lasers bouncing off of white boards and inadvertently bringing down a 757.
Is it possible to have filters over the wind screens to protect against this, without interfering with normal operation of the vehicle?
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
There are plans on the internet for building CO2 Lasers that can burn a hole in a piece of wood that appear to be easier to build, and with much less equipment and money than would be required for building a gun.
A CO2 laser would be easy to transport with a van, where someone could wait for their intended target to exit a building.
Since the ccds used in webcams can see infrared light, a low powered infrared laser could be used to plant a dot on the eyeballs of the target from across the street. The ccd camera mounted on the sights would see the dot, and the nefarious operator could then push a button to send a brief, much more powerful pulse from the CO2 laser to blind the target permanently. Since CO2 lasers output infrared light, the source of the attack would be invisible and silent and not give themselves away. They could wait a minute or so before leisurely driving away.
I'm suprised technology hasn't been used much before by nutjobs, criminals, and wacko groups to carry out dastardly deeds in furtherance of their evil agendas and schemes.
Webcams plus wi-fi cards = remote control robots for cheap. How come someone hasn't driven a Dalek like creation into a bank with a companion bot powered by an electric wheelchair motor carrying a large plastic tub to conduct a robbery?
Here's a possible scenario: The 'Dalek' appears cute and anime-esque to gain entrance to the bank. It's name is Kill-gore. It's followed by a dog-bot ( the one with the big plastic money tub, decorated with 'dog-fur' and likewise cutsey. It's name is Cargo.
Both Kill-gore and Cargo are equipped with web-cams and are controlled via computers connected to the operator by wireless network cards. Possibly they use a local unsecured connection enabling the operator to sit at home and control them over the internet. More likely, they are set up as a lan, with the operator in a van close by. The bots have webcams to see with, and video appears on the operator's screen.
Kill-gore can speak. Voice scrambulation is used to disguise the operator's voice and also to give Kill-gore an menacing robotic tone. It's cutesy facial expression turns evil as well. It's 'eyebrows' turn downward and it's 'eyes' glow red. A gun pops out of the top of it's head, it's voice booms: "THIS IS A ROBBERY! I AM KILL-GORE. MY COMPANION IS CARGO. NOBODY MOVE OR YOU'RE ALL GOING TO BE BLOWN TO BITS!"
Just then two of Kill-gore's panels fall to the floor exposing many pounds of dynamite ringing the bot.
"I AM ARMED AND VERY DANGEROUS ALLOW ME TO DEMONSTRATE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NONCOMPLIANCE"
An apple shoots out of the top of Kill-gore's head and the gun tracks it and shoots it. Another ring shaped panel lifts exposing a ring of gun barrels. The barrels spin menacingly. The people notice that just above the gun barrels, on the robot are stationary 'eye shaped things'. The robot can see all around it.
"IF YOU COMPLY, THEN NOBODY WILL BE HURT. YOU, TELLER, APPROACH MY COMPANION Cargo OR DIE."
The gun trained on the nervous employee, she approaches Cargo.
Kill-gore says: "Inside, you will find a collar. If you do not place it around your neck, you will die, and I will select another to wear it. Your only chance to live is to fasten the collar around your neck."
She retrieves the collar from Cargo's hold and puts it on. A timer begins to count down from twenty minutes.
"The collar is a bomb. If the robbery goes off without a hitch, then it will not explode. You are now on our side. Please ensure everything goes smoothly."
Fill Cargo with money. Do not include any dye packs or other devices in the loot. If they go off, then so do you!"
The teller is assisted to open the big safe and get all the dough. Cargo is filled to the brim.
"Cargo will now exit with the money. When it reaches it's destination, you will all be free to go. If the money fails to arrive, then you all die!"
...
Allow private and commercial aircraft to be equipped with rocket launchers and the freedom to fire at the source of the laser beam without being held responsible for any collateral damage. That'll put a quick stop to the laser-wielding idiots.
When they outlaw laser pointers, only outlaws will have laser pointers.
Laser Guided Bombs.
...excessively bright lights(mine were 100w bulbs, max is 65)...excessive number...(I had six, although four of them were foglights)...I'd rather enjoy not going blind thanks to some dirtbag with a high powered laser.
The oncoming traffic felt the same way, too.If you want a vision of the future, imagine a youtube comments section scrolling - forever.
Wow..they sure have mangled the freedoms and rights of Australians in the past 8 years. Gun rights? Gone. Now laser pointers?
It's happening everywhere. Well, let's just cut to the chase (or the future):
The US, UK, and Austrailia are combined into one giant country, locked down like a prison. Everyone is chipped, everything is monitored and tracked. You cannot own a gun or laser pointer, hell - you cannot even own a flashlight without registering it as only cops and burglers need them, and you're not a cop.
Matter of fact, you can't really own anything.
So you have applied for ownership of a car, which is a class c restricted motorized device?
Nope, don't think so Application denied - only criminals and party members use cars, they are quite potent weapons and very dangerous and since we care about keeping YOU safe above all else let me just point out some of the many uses of a 'car" -
You could run someone over-especially children.
You could use the car as a bomb and run it into government buildings, and we can't have that.
You could use it in your garage to gas yourself (that is, if we don't make it there in time to stop you once we've noticed you're spending an inordinate amount of time sitting in the garage in one place with an illegal motorized device running).
You could use it to try to leave the country; that would be unsafe, you could get in an accident or end up trying to live somewhere where there is no government to protect you, or one that won't protect you enough.
- So you can see, that we really do care - and we are, above all else: FAIR. DNA does not lie. We genotyped you AND your children and your wife and you all show a high propensity for independent thought, distrust of authority and suseptibility to disease. You children show possible criminal tendencies with a 20% liklihood of un-societal behavior. This is why you have been given a repetitive manufacturing job in the D-5 neighborhood and why your children will be educated at the government happy child camp.
Remember, safety and security above all else; without it, and without us - you have nothing!
They are not going to ban all laser pointers. They are going to ban laser pointers above Class 2; unless you have a good reason to have one (which includes astronomy). Lasers over Class 2 can cause permanent damage to your retina faster than your blink response can save you (by definition). Having spoken to police officers who had one shone at them in a helicopter by some dumb kid who didn't know any better I support the ban. There, I've said it. Let the abuse and "freedom" related ranting begin.
How to turn a flashlight into a handheld burning laser...
/. here: How To Turn a Mini Maglite Into a Laser.
Previously covered on
It seems so much... cooler, now that it is a weapon!
:-(
Too bad it can't obliterate assholes who want to lock us all up.
I preferred the "risky" world we lived in in the 90's. Life was worth the hazard.
More people STILL die on freeways than any "terrorist" action, but cars are still legal, and I can't bring shampoo on the plane.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Does "I have a cat" count as a lawful reason? davidh
Perth was actually founded by free men as well, but due to factors such as the harsh climate and distance between Perth and Albany, the settlers requested convict labour from England, leading to the Swan River Colony (as it was called) becoming a penal colony 20 years after its foundation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Western_Australia#British_settlements
Don't point that gun at him, he's an unpaid intern!
I can understand to an certain extent the worries that government and police authorities have about laser pointers, as they are often used by crime elements or by people just thinking they are funny.
Criminals often use them in the drug community, according to police officers I have talked to. It is not unheard of for an undercover agent to end up with a red dot on the side of his head that he cannot see, but the drug dealer CAN see, and is tipped off that it's a cop he is about to sell to.
And I know that they are used for much mischief in places. In Ocean City, MD, they were (at least back in the late 90's) outlawed, because during the firefighter conventions, the rowdy firefighters would use them on the cops. And ask any cop what he will do if he suddenly sees a red dot on his chest. Yep, dive for cover while pulling their weapon.
I see no reason to not allow their use indoors, though. When doing seminars on software use, it is VERY useful to point out which field on the screen you are referring to. I used one for that reason for years until someone stole it from a conference.
They also make the world's greatest cat toy. If you have a cat, buy one, and amuse yourself for hours making your feline chase that red dot everywhere. Some dogs really dig them, too. I had a lot of fun shining mine out the window and getting my neighbor's dog (with the owner's permission) to run in circles in the yard, and jump on the bricks of the garage.
The only problem with most laser pointers is that their range is insane. The fact that you can hit a cockpit of an airplane that is often more than a mile up makes them dangerous in the hands of the idiot.
You can't take the sky from me...
I have a hard enough time watching a presentation with someone using a red pointer. I was in a SANS presentation this week, where someone was using a green pointer. It hurt my eyes to look at the screen when he was pointing it. Now, I may be more sensitive to light than others, but I predict that within the next 5 to 10 years, (serious) studies will come out providing strong evidence that attending presentations where laser pointers are used causes irreversible damage to your eyes.
Just my $.0079 (inflation bites)
They can harass drivers with rocks.
They can harass drivers with sticks.
They can harass drivers with dog shit.
They can harass drivers with their own feces.
They can harass drivers with socks full of coins.
The problem is not the availability of lasers, but the willingness to misuse them.
You can use a knife as a weapon.
You can use a wrench as a weapon.
You can use a cricket bat as a weapon.
You can use a broom handle with nails innit as a weapon.
David could use a rock in a sling to kill a giant, you can make a sling out of your clothes.
You can't take the sky from me...
That's bullshit. Laser pointers have a few mW power (more powerful lasers are already regulated); they don't cause blindness even at short range, let alone at a distance of hundreds of feet when pointed at a moving plane with a pilot with normal blink reflexes. You really have to work hard to produce any kind of damage with a laser pointer.
http://www.mayoclinic.org/news2005-rst/2800.html
My hunch is that most (if not all) of the 'laser pointer distracts pilot' stories are urban legends. The fact that the cite here points to a Wired piece is the first clue. I own several very high-powered lasers of various colors, and I can't imagine how I'd be able to make them visible to pilots in airplanes, either small planes or commercial jets. Certain kinds of helicopters may be an exception. I remember some of these incidents coming out in local news channels... one in Arizona several years back I think. The articles have always struck me a suspect.
A lot of level III lasers are used in a common household device. Guess what it is?
Your common household DVD player. All someone has to do is pop the laser out, get a focusing lens and housing, and you've got that evil, evil weapon for use.
Gimme a fucking break. All that this will do is to give those pirates an excuse to steal our^Wyour movies over the intarwebs!
Signed, the MPAA
Folks, class 3 and 4 lasers can cause permanent eye injury. I work with lasers on a regular basis, and I observe strict safety precautions around anything marked class 3 or 4. Specifically, you don't freehand any optic (freehand --> jargon for manipulating an optic that isn't firmly mounted/bolted down) in a class 3/4 beam. Sale of these laser pointers, obviously marketed for presentation purposes (i.e. freehanding), is irresponsible and hazardous. You should see the wave of ducking and face-covering by an audience of spectroscopists as an absent-minded lecturer, using a green laser pointer, accidentally gestures across the audience with his finger still on the button.
I'm glad some government is finally regulating a dangerous product. If spectroscopists can't even use these laser pointers correctly, there's no hope for the technophobes in the business world. Granted, I'd prefer they go after the companies that make unsafe products than the unwitting masses that consume them, but I can't argue with the result.
Good point! I mean, they can certainly form crude weapons out of everyday objects, so why not simply allow them access to a wider range of more dangerous weapons? I'm with you Scrameustache, let's allow everyone to obtain nuclear weapons and tanks - after all, you can easily do as much damage by poisoning the water supply!
Lol! The more I read I read this thread, the more I think mockery is the way to deal with gun crazy militia types.
Until we can ship them off to UN death camps in black helicopters that is. All hail the Jewluminati!
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
"We are free - keep repeating, we are free."
Now you can beat the crap out of the punk in the movie theater. It's self defense.
This is the sort of STUPIDITY that Australia has historically always been so brilliant at. I hate this country sometimes. Being Australian in times like these is an embarrassment. A dozen stupid pricks play thoughtless dangerous pranks with a harmless tool and the reaction is, "ooooh! it's a weapon! Ban it."
About as many people are murdered with household hammers each year as pilots are temporarily blinded by laser pointers, but do they ban hammers as weapons? New Zealand is looking good as a place to move to.
"I hope you like Guinness, Sir. I find it a refreshing substitute for, er... food." Col. Jack O'Neil, SG-1