FBI alert on good morning america green laser

Pman said:

"SAFETY FIRST, LAST AND ALWAYS"
Not a bad motto

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Sounds good! :topic:Sounds better than the old 'frigid digits'. How about the slogan from Spidey's Uncle Ben : "With great power comes great responsibility".:can:

LaserInMyPocket said:

"Rules and Stickies" is at the top of the LPF home page but the "Safety & Legal Issues" section can't be seen without scrolling down. Maybe it's time to bump Safety&Legal to the top above the Welcome thread.

A banner like others have suggested might also be the way to go, colorful bold letters stating some of the most important universal laser rules like "Never Point a Laser at any Aircraft, Vehicle or Living Being." Some idiots just don't think about things that should be obvious.

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We don't really need the "Safety & Legal Issues" to be bumped up to the top. Most people here can maturely use a laser, if we ever do have any immature people on here, they learn quick to act like an idiot with them

hakzaw1 said:

All new members should be sent even more links to the most important lesson there is on LASERS- ' Do no harm to the hobby' that pretty much covers everything--Hak

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Hak has coined a good motto too : 'Do no harm to the hobby' !

Pman said:

"SAFETY FIRST, LAST AND ALWAYS"

Not a bad motto

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Tis true



And Hakzaw, the Big brother idea is a good one. I know Eudamonium has been doing this for a while, taking the initiative to help out and guide new members.

~ LB

I tend to enjoy "grey interests" and the Laser Hobby is already fairly underground (try by passing customs etc.)

Perhaps Underground is where it should stay :thinking:

Ranting tends to raise many valid points MadMacMo

~ LB

I haven't looked at the links that madmacmo cited but I pretty much agree with his statements.
I've had plenty of people ask why I own so many units and the answer is complicated but will say that this is part of it "buy up all the toys you can before the time comes when there are no more."
As stated earlier, I agree that a disaster is inevitable.
This is why I would really just like to see something more benign (shouldn't be "alarmist" in nature) under our LPF banner such as "Do no harm to the hobby" and "Safety first, last and always" rather than "We don't allow ******** ********* *** ***** ******* here (I'm not into the whole cussing thing) and will hunt you down and .... (think you get the picture). The statement under the banner isn't for our members as we police our own but for the "public" if you follow me.
Can't help if it bothers me thinking about not IF it's going to happen but WHEN it's going to happen. I'm not saying anyone should be freaking out. I am saying that if the thought of it pops in your head and it doesn't bother you at all then maybe you should only eat with a spoon

Hopefully it wont get as bad as Australia :/

I agree it’s more for the public. Every effort, consideration and thought on protecting the hobby counts. How's this for a motto : "Self regulate or degenerate" and "Use not abuse"? Otherwise it’s like a sitting duck predicament. I loathe imagining airport disasters too. But with the FBI and border customs involved, it's no small wonder why the heat is being felt by responsible laserists like a simmering frog. Another cliché is that 'it’s always the person and not the tool that matters' which falls on deaf ears. Nanny nations will rather err on the side of caution and knee jerk anyway. Laser safety has inevitably been equated to that derived from gun safety. And the fact that indiscriminate laser use is already perceived as a threat to the safety of passenger airliners could soon earn it the label (no matter how unfair) of being the next potential WMD (ala UN). Can you imagine how easily the world’s powers could next target every form of DIY tutorial (video, blueprint, forum, etc) if they ever conclude that lasers are to be treated at the same level as IEDs? All it takes is perhaps one lone wolf if not some kids mucking around. The FAA already bans knives onboard planes and latest could be laser pointers; no thanks to Alex Miller. Next is Stephen Bukucs, the 1st adult to be prosecuted in Oregon for lasering planes. Amongst the 3 objects (lasers, guns, IEDs) to compare with are vastly differing degrees of availability, accessibility to components, affordability, ease of construction, portability, max range and social impact. No prizes for guessing which one is most easily sold to minors and to the uninitiated of the safety precautions required for ownership and usage. We are indeed seeing history in the making as we speak.

I truly wish I could say the Mac is wrong-- I felt the same as he posted and Pmed him hoping he had some ideas that may help save us from becoming the next Oz with laws that do no good but just SOUND good.
Whats done is done-- not many ways to change the past.. and I fear most anything we do from now on will have litttle or no impact on whats coming.

I am by education a photojournalist so I know some about yellow journalism
and news that people read and not- you will NEVER see a news story about the rest of us. we don't do anything that is worthy of a headline. NOTHING!

did you all take a close look at the news report linked in the OP-
there is something very telling in that report- its full of bull- and the sadest part- it will do no good to call them out on this.

where do i start??

well how about this fact- one of the major reasons the rise in aircraft laser sightings rose so fast is left out of the POS report-- the 'rules' were changed.
at one time pilots were not encouraged/required to report any sightings of any lasers-- then the rule changed- ALL PILOTS were required to report EVERY time a laser was aimed at them, but not just seeing any lasers on the ground as they were/are after all on no importance to aircraft but this did make for alarming numbers of reports. THEN the BIG change ( not told in this so-called 'news') Pilots were told that is was manditory to report all sightings no exceptions- so naturally the number of reports rose dramatically. So the stats have been manipulated by this change.

see the pilot in that report LIE to us??-- - go see that again-- what is tells us cannot be accurate as the truth is not newsworthy - he claims he had great pain in his eyes- LIAR!! we do not feel much in the way of pain when we get lasered in the eyes- he even at the end says this lasted a VERY short time and I bet there was no burns on his retina either. The report tells about how large the 'dot' from a leaser becomes at such a long distance but what is left out is the fact as the 'spot' gets bigger the danger to our eyes lessens so to the under- educated on lasers this sounds like the spot is equally bright at distance when we all know that to be untrue. This is a lot like the 'shoe-bomber' for that single incident we now all must remove our shoes even children.

They fail to say that NO laser from the ground can be seen by a fixed-wing pilot until they are landing or while they are taking off- any money spent on stopping us from owning lasers would be MUCH better spent on patrolling the areas around airports at night- that is not even mentioned- so money thrown at making lasers illegal to own is not just wasted but IMO worse than that- as it will NOT protect our pilots in any way.

They also fail to use any things said by Dr Sam that were not anti-laser-
I am sure he said a lot more than what we saw in the report- Sam is one the the most brilliant people I have ever met in regards to lasers and I am sure his words were taken somewhat out of context. Or at least if they asked him about a solution he would very likely have more to say than we got to hear.


and that is a for-real need- they have dogs and falcons (and other ways)at
some airports to keep birds away form aircraft- this makes sense to me-BUT what if the passed a law that made it illegal for birds to fly around airports --- just how much good would that do?? none ..just like how much good would throwing money at making lasers illegal do ?? == zero-

YEAH we could all write letters to everyone from Obama down and I doubt this would do any (or much) good at this late date. You could support and vote for those running for office that are NOT anti-laser but so far that is just one person- =Charles Maricle owner of AixiZ

Chuck is on our side and all from Texans who gives a rats ass about us and our lasers NEEDS to support him and give him as much help and votes as we possibly can. He is running for a seat in the House next election. I have known him for more than 6 years and can say with no doubt he is the man for the job. And not only for his stand on lasers. He is a family man and military vet and currently a Captain in the Coast Guard. BUT do not let my views keep anyone form writing their own elected officials-- while it may not do much good it certainly will do no harm.


ENJOY owning lasers while you can-- our days are numbered my friends.

meantime it may be a great idea to no longer use laser outdoors at night as any pilot who sees them is required to report the sighting. So make your choice- lasers illegal or we stop doing things that cause more reports.

either way its not looking good for us...


Len

I agree with the above post -
'We are indeed seeing history in the making as we speak.'

One way lasers wouldn't be so wide spread within the general public is maybe stop some of the YouTube videos with the "Laser Giveway".

The winner could be a 5 year old for all we know, that in my opinion would somewhat help this issue

You know what else is dangerous?

A rock that can be thrown at someone's head.

spyrorocks said:

You know what else is dangerous?

A rock that can be thrown at someone's head.

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Or someone running down the stairs

hakzaw1 said:

Meantime it may be a great idea to no longer use laser outdoors at night as any pilot who sees them is required to report the sighting. So make your choice - lasers illegal or we stop doing things that cause more reports.

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Sad but true.:cryyy: Sounds like Hobson's choice. So the only sticker for lasers is perhaps this one :

spyrorocks said:

You know what else is dangerous?

A rock that can be thrown at someone's head.

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Or a dark alley. You never know if there's a drop bear hiding in the shadows.

Raiden Gekkou said:

Or a dark alley. You never know if there's a drop bear hiding in the shadows.

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Sadly we can all agree there will always be immature people who think distracting pilots is funny.

How strange it will be that our own SIGs will be used to track us down-
you better have every laser listed there or expect a search when 'they' drop on to take them away--

AND for those that build and sell 'completed' lasers-- the praise posted for them will put these members in jepordy as its already not legal to build and sell - so when possession become illegal they will be the 'drug pushers' of the laser community-- I think we will see many changes in our sigs--