High-powered laser pointers face ban

High-powered laser pointers face ban

www.news.com.au

HIGH-powered laser pointers will be banned in NSW in a move that will also make it illegal to carry them in public without a good reason.

NSW Premier Morris Iemma and Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said today that carrying of any laser in public without reasonable explanation would be a criminal offence.

(visit the link for the full news article)

The New South Wales government has finally done it... they've jerked their knees and implemented the ban on laser pointers, without a good reason - morons.

The Victorian penalties for shining a laser pointer at a plane are up to a $6000 fine and 6 months in prison.

This month, Lanfranco Baldetti, a 23 year old man from Adelaide became one of the first people jailed for shining a laser at a plane.

www.news.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

Sounds like the same knee jerk reaction that lead to them banning guns.

Laws like this are dumb. For every person that uses a laser pointer like a retard, trying to blind someone, there are hundreds that use them for work, school, or as possibly the greatest cat/dog/toddler toy ever created.

Are banned without permit. Up to 14 yr inprisonment if found in possession of. Who will ban the rocks from overpasses now? A solution by the aero industry should be found instead. Sad we have so many sociopaths in society these days to go down this road.

We used high powered lasers to strip wire where I used to work... not the kind you normally buy off the shelf... these ones were intended to burn things.

However, I always carried it with me to and from work... they were great for lighting cigarettes.


My question is... stones can bring a plane down if you hit the engine intake during takeoff. Shall they ban stones?

Birds have brought a fair number of planes down.

Mirrors can also be aimed at planes to blind the pilot... are mirrors to be banned?


This law does sound rather half baked.

It's a few years too late. The ban is aimed at the laser pointers used at astronomy nights from what I've heard, the green type of laser.

It's not really going to be any use in self-defense, so I can't see how it's similar to banning guns. They're fricken' lasers, you don't need them to live.

Apparently mattguy the problem has gotten so bad the courts feel no recourse in the matter. Including 'cluster' lasering on cockpits. A desperate attempt to ward off a potential catasrophe.

reply to post by jpm1602


But the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if the reason was made up to justify the ban. Governments do that sort of thing you know. Especially the ones that start to worry that they haven't banned anything lately ...


[edit on 4/21/2008 by centurion1211]

Ya just never know anymore these days Centurian. Equally possible.

Kinda dangerous for kids to play around with really... not really a weapon anyways other than blinding and burning a hole in someone's pants.

banning it doesn't hurt anyone I assume because I havn't seen anyone use a laser other than the police with a laser pointed taser.

Originally posted by die_another_day
banning it doesn't hurt anyone I assume because I havn't seen anyone use a laser other than the police with a laser pointed taser.

Banning them won't necessarily hurt anyone... however, it hurts a person's freedom to own one, right?

I'm against most forms of governmental control, so banning these things is an infringement of rights, as far as I'm concerned.

Problem solved.
Build your own here . lifehacker.com...

From a mini mag light and dvd burner

I've seen this coming for years because, despite the large number of genuine hobbyists experimenting with powerful lasers safely, there's a growing number of irresponsible halfwits who can now afford them with their only goal being to make a nuisance of themselves as they think it's a cool thing to do. Blinding a pilot on a landing approach could be disastrous.

They're talking about high power lasers, particularly the green ones 10mW and above that light matches and pop balloons and can literally destroy your eyesight permanently in a single flash, not the plain old laser pointers used at lectures although who knows where the authorities will draw the line. Just keep all of them indoors to avoid trouble.

I have a real problem with this.

Firstly, low flying aircraft (take-off and landing) will be travelling at quite a pace. Is it really so easy, with a handheld laser pointer, to aim directly at the cockpit windows and keep it tracked on the same spot on a fast moving object?

Secondly, aircraft at higher altitudes will be traveling a lot faster than those on take-off or landing. The problems of keeping a handheld pointer aimed at the cockpit for even a second are them magnified immensely.

And finally. After dark, all you can see of the aircraft are the anti-collision lights blinking away merrily. How are you to determine where the cockpit is and shine your little laser directly at it?

Sorry, this whole issue seems like a lot of BS to me. Too many variables and too difficult to achieve with an off-the-shelf pointer.

reply to post by Britguy


Some of the lasers used are in the 100s of mW range and they can destroy eyesight in a single flash plus it need not be direct as a reflection can do the damage just as easily. Pointing them at planes or any moving vehicle presents a clear danger and the government is bound to act now, rather than be found to have taken no action to prevent a tragedy despite foreknowledge of the risk presented.

Misused in this fashion (pointing at planes) presents a greater danger than arming the same people with high-powered rifles, like it or not.

Just thank the halfwits if you feel deprived of your rights or about to be.


[edit on 22/4/2008 by Pilgrum]