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POLL: BAN high power laser sales to the general public?

Should global sales of class 4 laser pointers be banned to the public ?


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Tabish

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EDIT: ONLY talking about premade pointers like WL Arctic.
Buying parts / diodes / DIY kits doesn't count.

As cool as lasers pointers are...

-The output powers are skyrocketing
-The prices are skydiving

This is a recipe for disaster...

As soon as people around the world get their "Arctics", I can just see things like:

"$200 laser pointer causes teenager to lose his/her eyesight"

As bad as 1W is, reports are that a 3W diode is next.
IMAGINE what kids (or retarded adults) with 3W pointers are capable of...

Now imagine laser diode technology 5 or 10 years from now...

So I come to the conclusion:
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BAN GLOBAL SALES OF CLASS 4 LASERS TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC
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This is something a global governing bodies like NATO / IEEE may have to step in for...


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What this means for us:

Laser hobbyists will still be able to BUY DIODES/PARTS and CONSTRUCT high powered lasers.

Most of us who can assemble class 4 lasers know the dangers so we are mostly safe.

It's the kids/morons who see a youtube video:

"X watts laser killing/burning Y" and go "OHH I WANT!!!"

Discuss...
 
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Look man you're not the first guy to worry about this stupid idea that everyone is going to kill each other with lasers.

The kids that get these will get over it after a few days worth of playing.

Nothing is going to happen.
 
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Might help if you actually added a poll. But...

Might as well ban cars.. and hammers, and screwdrivers.. and ice.. and pretty much anything else, and pad everything that's left since pretty much everything that exists can be used to hurt yourself or someone else if used stupidly.

You forget the key thing here... lasers aren't dangerous.. neither are guns.. explosives, or anything else. Without a key ingredient... PEOPLE... they're all totally harmless. So, It makes more sense to ban people, don't you think?
 

Tabish

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Look man you're not the first guy to worry about this stupid idea that everyone is going to kill each other with lasers.

The kids that get these will get over it after a few days worth of playing.

Nothing is going to happen.

Not when the kids realize what multiple watts of coherent light focused at a distance can do...
 
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Yeah, poll is definitely biased. You have it so either way sounds bad. Might as well just have one option then.

You also have the strange assumption that if they're banned, that we'll somehow be exempt and legal... You obviously have never kept up with how any form of government works.

If they are banned, all become illegal.. yes, even yours. It doesn't matter that YOU think you know how to handle it safely.. If it came down to a ban, then the government wouldn't care, they would automatically assume your as moronic as the rest regardless of your arguments.
 
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Tabish

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Might help if you actually added a poll. But...

Might as well ban cars.. and hammers, and screwdrivers.. and ice.. and pretty much anything else, and pad everything that's left since pretty much everything that exists can be used to hurt yourself or someone else if used stupidly.

You forget the key thing here... lasers aren't dangerous.. neither are guns.. explosives, or anything else. Without a key ingredient... PEOPLE... they're all totally harmless. So, It makes more sense to ban people, don't you think?

I'm taking about the NEAR FUTURE.

When a 10W laser pointer wont be so hard to manufacture.

Imagine, you are waking down the street and out of nowhere, at the speed of light, you get hit in the eye.

High powered lasers CAN become more dangerous than guns since the outputs will skyrocket and they "LOOK HARMLESS" compared to a gun.



Yea my poll is biased. But that's MY PERSONAL opinion.

If you don't agree, hit the 2nd button.
 
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I'm taking about the NEAR FUTURE.

Oh, near future. I see. Well in the near future the world is suppose to blow up, so this debate doesn't really have any merit. Kind of like the statement "If me aunt had balls, she would be my uncle".
 
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Oh, near future. I see. Well in the near future the world is suppose to blow up, so this debate doesn't really have any merit. Kind of like the statement "If me aunt had balls, she would be my uncle".

You just made me fall out of my chair. :crackup: :bowdown:
 
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I work out of the town in which I live. I spend many hours on the highway and have one major concern.

We have all heard nearly every year how some stupid punk kid(s) throw rocks, bricks, and even CAR BATTERIES off of overpasses into oncoming traffic.

Now what would the consequence be if instead of a rock, brick, or battery were supplemented with even a 300mW pointer / hand-held??

Think of the chaos this could cause. I am still kinda surprised that this has not yet happened. If and when it does, a single laser could be responsible for dozens of deaths in a single act.

Having a pair of goggles in the car will do nothing against a brief shot of a class 4 unless you are wearing them. And with the way luck works, the glasses id be wearing would be for the wrong wavelength :(

Note to self, spend the money on some broadband goggles and glue them firmly to ears ;)

I can see where the OP is going with this, and have to agree on some level.

With the branch of possibilities, id have to vote for a ban, even if this meant giving up my own laser. Either that or charges for carrying such a laser in public equal to illegally carrying a firearm.

If you think in these terms, technically a class 3b or 4 could be considered a weapon of mass destruction.
 
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