Noobie Questions and concerns

Hi im new here but have been using lasers my whole life. im 16 and my father is a photonics professor at our local college he also teaches laser safety courses. ever since i was young we had lasers around the house and i was constantly being told not to what not to point it at. even though they were just red pointers my dad taught me to treat them like a gun. my dad has a HeNe red laser but its only 5mw.

Recently i was down the shore in Wild Wood, New Jersey (a shore town) i noticed that almost half the stores on the boardwalk there were selling green laser pointers. I went into one of the stores and purchased one. The guy told me it was 50mw more powerful the all of the others but i noticed it had no warning stickers like the other ones that were 30mw and 5mw. The guy who was selling it to me wanted to show me the power so he shined it onto the boardwalk into the crowds of people. I later found out all of the lasers sold there are from deal extreme. Do you Guys think these are the actual power as advertised? Should i use safety glasses?

also my friend decided to sell me his 2.2W blue laser its 445nm where can i get glasses that will give me the best protection?

also these stores on the board walk are selling these lasers to children without their parents and they can just go off and blind themselves and others and nobody knows why does anyone else agree that the sale of these lasers to the public should not be allowed without the proper safety precautions.

CJ208 said:

my father is a photonics professor at our local college he also teaches laser safety courses.

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Tell him to record one of his safety courses and put it on YouTube, I would be interested to see what he has to say.

CJ208 said:

also my friend decided to sell me his 2.2W blue laser its 445nm where can i get glasses that will give me the best protection?

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For the best protection get goggles from OEM laser systems. Also, why don't you just ask your Dad if he's a photonics professor?

CJ208 said:

Do you Guys think these are the actual power as advertised? Should i use safety glasses?

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Probably not as advertised, maybe more, maybe less. Green pens are really luck of the draw with powers. Always use safety goggles for any laser over 5mW.

CJ208 said:

also these stores on the board walk are selling these lasers to children without their parents and they can just go off and blind themselves and others and nobody knows why does anyone else agree that the sale of these lasers to the public should not be allowed without the proper safety precautions.

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Lasers being sold to the public should not be allowed IMO, it is illegal in the states to sell a laser over 5mW, I wish the police could go such it down, but Alas, they don't have an LPM.

Ill talk to him about it and I asked him about the glasses but he said he doesn't know where to get get them for my lasers also how much are they at OEM?

I also would love to see a "pro" safety course/presentation video.

As for glasses/goggle, they are needed for anything over 5mw, and they need to cover your laser's wavelength and power (for example, my 445nm SL 1.1 Watt needs glasses that cover 445nm and have a OD of 4 (to be exact, it's something like OD 3.5, but you always have to round the OD rating up for safety)).

Make sure you get quality glasses, as you only get 2 eyes!

CJ208 said:

Ill talk to him about it and I asked him about the glasses but he said he doesn't know where to get get them for my lasers also how much are they at OEM?

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ARG - Blu Ray, Argon, Blue, KTP [NR-ARG-EN207] - $80.50

With a simple on-line search you should be able to get the regulations concerning allowed lasers (power) for the US. That should be enough to present to local government with proof that the seller is violating them to have the business license revoked/pulled. If the seller can be proven to knowingly be selling illegal products then that is a police issue as it qualifies as a criminal activity.
Either way would result in the blatant disregard for safety being addressed.
Then the same tactic can be used for any others doing the same thing. After a few places being shut down the word will get around to not try to do it anymore around there and you can wait a while for it to start again.
Maybe call it a new hobby...