Australia Laser Imports

Hi,
I got a not-so-good friend to take a 50mw green from China into Australia. Luckily for me, it came through without any hassles. The laser was concealed in a box marked "Shanghai World Expo" (among the chinese souveniers). The box was not tampered with by customs at all. I guess it was just luck.

If you do some digging on Ebay, you'll find a laser expert wantta be that sells kits out of Melbourne. Then go way out of the city and have fun, but keep the beam parallel to the ground.

Steve

I just got pinged by Customs today. I bought this laser from Dealextreme, to give my cat some exercise (the vet specifically said "buy a laser pointer, make the tubby thing run").

I bought that one because it runs on AAA batteries, which i can get from work :evil:, and because i thought it was low power enough (no power listed) to get through customs. I mean, i could have bought a 200mw laser from that same site for the love of Eris!

But sure enough, to day i got the letter from Customs, stating the laser had been confiscated as a prohibited good, because 3.36mW is higher than 1mW. And now while they have let me off this time (how nice), i apparently am on a List and anything i have imported from now on will be inspected closely.

I could claim the item and go through the steps to get it, as long as i was prepared to pay the $400 of legal costs in the highly likely event that i lose the appeal. Totally worth it for a $5.34 laser. Yeah.

And just tonight i got word from a coworker (i work at Perth Airport) that there was an idiot in my suburb firing a laser at aircraft! Grar!

I got a 50mw confiscated. I've heard most get through, haha.

Things said:

Laser modules/labbies get through fine, I haven't had one confiscated yet despite the many I have had come through.

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Sorry for the double post, just wanted to note that it's *only* pointers that are illegal here, you can import a 4KW industrial laser fine, it just has to not be a pointer. The 'not a pointer' rule also applies to diodes.

Hi all,
This is my first so please be gentle. I had purchased a cheapie off focalprice for like $35 Aussie dollars and was soooo excited only to have received a nasty letter from Australian customs also. I couldn't believe it, i got it today in the post and was very dissapointed. I would add it for people to see but am on my phone adding my comments. It does say that its a warning and no fine applies and yes i can apply for a permit bla bla but why would i when the fricken thing is going to cost me more then the laser itself plus im not into astronomy etc. The funniest thing that i couldnt stop laughing about was they said that my laser output was at 380mw lol which is soooo not possible and if it was i must be the unluckiest guy in Aus. Can Bobhaha please email me as i would like to discuss putting one together but cant and will not risk importing one as now i know they are illegal.

Putting one together?

Check my signature for the links to the two build guides.

And welcome to the forums. Always good to have more Aussies on board.

Yeah i think building one is my only option really but i need someone here from aus to point out what the procedure is and how to go about it without doing it the incorrect way through customs if you know what i mean. On the flip side there are these markets where i can buy one of those green laser pointers with the 6 interchangable tips for star effects for 45 bucks which will have to do me for now......why why why customs please give me my pointer back. Im so annoyed.....the problem is that if you get caught amsecond time the fine is $110,000 or three times the amount of the lasers worth, whichever is the higher lol....

Why you dont get a firearms permit? It shoulnt cost so much.

Its about $400 then its only valid for 30 days from issue date and i dont have a legit reason for having to own one besides for personal use, whi h i dont think they will approve. This one at the markets is 50mw so should be ok for a first laser. Any one else here who has tried to import lasers and received a warning or has anyone tried for a second time and got caught in Aus? If so what happened, im interested to know.

Wait, there is no gun in australia? OH GOD.

We have guns here if thats what your asking? Its difficult to obtain your gun license here so why would i fork out the cash just to import a 35 dollar laser? There has to be another/easier way.

21 Hit me said:

We have guns here if thats what your asking? Its difficult to obtain your gun license here so why would i fork out the cash just to import a 35 dollar laser? There has to be another/easier way.

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Black market? :crackup:

Haha probably the only way

Um, A former friend of mine went and got the firearms permits for his professional laser show company, just in case he met a ill informed cop or hit a customs glitch. He said "free" as in no charge, because it was not actually a firearm. However he has a corporation so the rules may be different. So you guys in OZ may wish to dig a little further.

Steve

Its not free here so there is not point but thanks for the info.