1W Laser for Self Defense in an Active Shooter Situation

[RedCowboy]

For anyone thinking about using a bright light source to disorient an attacker at self defense ranges, do yourself a big favor and buy a good LED flashlight, the strobe function on this R50 is awesome, it actually makes my stomach feel sick and you cant see a dam thing when someone is pointing it at you from 30 feet away and likely more.

3 fast clicks turns on the strobe function no matter what mode you're in or if turned off.

The strobe function really is impressive at night and even at self defense range in daylight, and you don't face the many charges for using it in self defense that you would if you used some home made laser.

Think about facing a judge or jury as bystanders from the scene of your self defense action and their children complain about blurry vision and headaches long after the incident, you really don't want to use a homemade laser as a weapon, it opens you up to all kinds of litigation and criminal charges.

If someone with a knife is within lunging distance and employs the element of surprise you are in trouble even with a firearm in your holster, but if you want to deter an attacker from the angry verbal assault phase and you don't want to carry a firearm then choose the flashlight and pepper spray and don't even think about something so foolish as using a homemade laser, a commercial dazzler would still be risky, but it's virtually guaranteed that any homemade laser used in a fight is going to end badly should you find yourself facing a judge, a cop or another concerned citizen with a gun.

For instance if a cop or concerned citizen were to see you blinding someone with a laser and shout " Hey you, STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!! " and you turn towards a gun with your laser in hand, then they will be justified in shooting you to death, but if you are holding a flashlight and a can of mace there's a lot less to misunderstand.

 

[WizardG]

If you've ever had a 1W blue pointed @ you from a couple hundred yards you'll know that it will have at least one sure effect on you, it will piss you off. If you're already firing into the crowd that bright blue thing will become your next target, guaranteed.

When man-portable CW lasers in the kW+ range become a thing at the advanced hobbyist level (batteries are getting better all the time, right?) we'll have another conversation about laser weaponry. IMNSHO the lasers we have now are potentially dangerous toys and any attempt to use one as a weapon, even in self defense, is highly inadvisable.

 

[BobMc]

It's probably very true, that if you'd shine a laser at a shooter he would focus on you. I guess it depends on whether you'd be willing to sacrifice your life to give other people a chance to get away?

:thinking:

 

[paul1598419]

In the time it took a shooter to hit you with your laser, how much time do you expect you have given other people to escape as you lie dying? It seems a bad idea all around.

 

[BobMc]

I surmise that the average person would be willing to make the sacrifice if that short period of time increased the odds of their child getting to safety. :thinking:

 

[paul1598419]

Now it's not just some people, but my own child? I would try to either find a way out for her, or cover her with my body than make us both a target by shining a laser in the shooter's face. If I found myself in that situation with a laser in my pocket, the laser wouldn't even be among the things I would consider in trying to save my daughter's life.

 

[RB astro]

Have to agree with Paul on this.
I can't imagine I'd sit there firing a laser back at the shooter.
I'd do exactly what Paul would do.
Gladly give my life for my family if it means they live.
Not draw attention my way by using a laser.

:yabbem:

 

[BobMc]

~~~~~~~~~~~

If I found myself in that situation with a laser in my pocket, the laser wouldn't even be among the things I would consider in trying to save my daughter's life.

Interesting choice. :thinking:

 

[paul1598419]

Really? Seems like the only logical choice, but I would rather die than allow my daughter to be hurt or killed. A laser makes a poor personal weapon and even in a close encounter would be a better club than a way to blind someone who is attacking you. You probably would never be able to completely blind an attacker and partial blindness may make your situation worse in that case. If the host was large and massive enough, it would make a better club.

 

[Alaskan]

Have to agree with Paul on this.
I can't imagine I'd sit there firing a laser back at the shooter.
I'd do exactly what Paul would do.
Gladly give my life for my family if it means they live.
Not draw attention my way by using a laser.

:yabbem:

What he said...

 

[BobMc]

Thank you for your opinion. But I respectfully disagree. If I had a laser in my pocket I would consider using it to save my child's life. I would consider all means to acomplish the task. Poor weapon or good weapon I would use anything and all things, not limiting myself at all.

 

[steve001]

I saw this posting and it reminded me how effective bright light can be to temporarily blind. I think many of you are too young to remember flashcubes so won't know what this item was.

"We used to have something like that when I was growing up, it was called a Magic cube and if someone surprised you with a camera loaded with one you were temporarily blinded. If it was dark your night vision was gone for at least 30 minutes. Magnesium wool in flashbulb is incredibly bright."

Also an interesting product link and the first I've seen.
http://comight-tech.com/products/dazzlers/<br>

Just noticed the direct link is not working so click the company name after clicking the above link.

 

[RedCowboy]

As for the OP's question about using a 1w blue at 50 meters to disorient/disable , I would say it may be possible but it's not advisable.

As far as doing anything to save a loved one at close range, if you have time to get your pointer and use it then that same time would likely be better used to flee with your loved one to safety.

I suppose the real question is if there's a distance where using a pointer to disorient a shooter would be advisable and I do not advise doing so at all, however we are all responsible for our own actions, for instance if you are 100 meters away from an active shooter and you use your pointer to disrupt that shooter....who turns out to have been an off duty police officer in plain clothes returning fire at an actual maniac shooter that was in the direction of a fleeing crowd, then again you are responsible for your actions and the damage arising from your actions.

Maybe a shooter was out to kill his ex wife who was in a public place and your disorienting laser attack left him flash blinded resulting in said shooter killing many bystanders who were not originally meant to be targeted, are you responsible ? Probably to some extent, again I don't advise using a pointer as a weapon, but if your life is on the line you may use a can of soup from a nearby shelf as a thrown missile as a weapon, but would the time it took to retrieve that can of soup and throw it not have been better spent fleeing to safety?

Laser beam diameter and target movement have a lot to do with the effectiveness of a " dazzler " as well as the wavelength and the pulsing effect.

An effective dazzler has a wide beam and a pulsing one in a wavelength that is the most effective for quick deployment and maximum effectiveness, an immediately flash blinded shooter is disabled much more so than one who has been hit with a focused blue beam in one eye that may have caused real damage but left the shooter able to continue their attack.

Deviating from the OP's question again: At short range a super bright pulsing flashlight with a wide swath is likely more effective in the very few seconds a person may have to react to a threat who is moving.

Also think about this, at short distance a shooter can still fire bullets in your direction even if they cant see very well or at all.

At 50 meters it may be possible to distract a shooter with a pointer, but I do NOT advise doing so, consider real world lasing incidents where people have been struck with 1w to 20w laser beams, I am thinking of burning man and the European laser show, those people lost a lot of their sight but are not totally blind and at the time were not instantly immobilized.

Burning a hole in a leaf that's stationary vs. one that's blowing in the wind even gently is a very different experience, it's something like holding your hand in front of a blow torch vs. moving it through the flame.

Our pointers are not powerful enough to be weapons, and weapon lasers are not even visible which adds, well let's just say that our hobby lasers are not weapons.

And remember, at short distance a shooter can still fire bullets in your direction even if they cant see very well or at all, so please don't bring a pointer to a gun fight, as for the OP's question, it may be possible but not advisable and you could do more harm than good.

----EDIT----

Chances are that most all of us will never have to deal with an active shooter situation, but we may well deal with other people who have had a bad day, so it's best to keep the idea of using a pointer for self defense out of our minds, because carrying a pointer with the intent of use as a defensive or for those few sickos an offensive weapon is an extremely bad idea.

 

[Alaskan]

My reasoning against it is I believe you would become more of a target, it's difficult to hit someone right in the middle of the eye and they usually have two of them, unless a laser hobbyist who didn't believe in laser glasses.

 

[BobMc]

It's unfortunate that the government doesn't realize that using laser light to disoriented/disable/stop an aggressor is not a good idea. They could have saved all that money on research.

 

[Alaskan]

Those are not laser pointers, if you had a dazzler, that might work, but just for a short time. Never mind the YT title: