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Gov't Report: Laser Pointers Produce Too Much Energy, Pose Risk For the Careless
coondoggie writes "Commercial grade green and red laser pointers emit energy far beyond what is safe, posing skin, eye and fire hazards. That was the conclusion of a National Institute of Standards and Technology study on the properties of handheld lasers. The study tested 122 of the devices and found that nearly 90% of green pointers and about 44% of red pointers tested were out of federal safety regulation compliance."
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"The study tested 122 of the devices and found that nearly 90% of green pointers and about 44% of red pointers tested were out of federal safety regulation compliance."
So blue lasers are safe then?
Obligatory xkcd http://what-if.xkcd.com/13/
Sometimes it's better not having signature
"We need more testing in this field, particularly on that white wall over there."
are we supposed to fight the sharks?
Just claim to be a member of the NRA and any attempt by the gummint to lower power is infringing your 2nd amendment rights.
It's the NLA, the National LASER Association, and we do have a serious lobbying effort underway.
If the founding fathers had had lasers, then they'd have done fine without France's support.
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ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
No. Fuck this shit. I move that every citizen of the USA shall receive from the government one glock 9 mm pistol, one box of hollow point ammunition, one multi-watt laser pointer, one... no, make that TWO extremely fucking dangerous magnets, and a big fucking bucket of fireworks, to do with as they please. In one year, the survivors can get together and discuss additional regulation. :-/
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
The government regulators have no desire to prevent you from buying or selling higher power lasers. They do care when you lie to your customers and tell them the lasers are less dangerous than they actually are. They care when you use shoddy manufacturing that allows harmful IR to escape the casing, while again telling the customer that they are completely shielded against this. If these lasers worked as advertized, then there wouldn't be a problem. Alternately if they were sold as class 3B devices (which is what they effectively are) there would be no problem, as the purchasers would know the risks and could plan accordingly. But they weren't and the manufacturers/importers should be held responsible for their recklessness.
Not so much that...as that it seems the govt. figures we are all fucking idiots that can't be trusted with our own judgment to use anything more dangerous than a butter knife, or maybe those rounded edge scissors we all got in first grade.
I sure miss lawn darts and clackers and....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
it seems the govt. figures we are all fucking idiots that can't be trusted with our own judgment to use anything more dangerous than a butter knife, or maybe those rounded edge scissors we all got in first grade
I think thats pretty accurate for how a very large number of people in the country should be treated. I definitely don't want a lot of people I know with a commercial laser, as I do like my eyesight. I have a 500 lumen flashlight (its really really bright in a tightly focused beam) and the number of people I told "don't point it at your face because its incredibly bright", that did exactly that is astounding. When I asked why? their response was its only a flashlight... I've seen several people do that with lasers too. Not to mention that is the governments targeted mentality with their current form of "education".
The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand. - Frank Herbert
Your apprehension reminds me of this article: Russian concert laser show blinds 30
Hell no. These are not like knives.
These laser pointers are much more dangerous that you might think. Sweep a 120mW laser across the eyes of a room full of people at 10 feet and you've just permanently damaged their retinas before anyone could blink.
Used with care, they can be crazy awesome fun and I have several, but I treat them as munitions and keep them well locked away because I'm aware of exactly what damage they can do.
You seriously do not want these in the hands of yobbos who will wave them in the eyes of the first child they see saying, "Look, lightsaber!"
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
I'm not a big fan of guns being easily available to all, but in my opinion guns have more practical/reasonable uses than high powered handheld lasers.
Yes you can use those lasers to point at stuff in the sky. And get yourself in big trouble if an aircraft happens to be in the area. I say use a lighted extendable stick instead.
With guns, you can't shoot continuously for minutes. With lasers you can. If you pick the right scenario (everyone looking at the same area) you can blind a lot of people.
Couldn't a high powered laser be used as a defensive device? If someone tries to rob you, you could blind them, perhaps irreparably. Though a bit macabre, in many cases that might be a better option than simply killing them with a gun (let it be known, though, that if someone broke into my house and I had a laser and a gun... I'd grab the gun).