FBI alert on good morning america green laser

[Spooky]

The moment public perception is commonly altered to make laser users into terrorists it's all over.

The war on terror is failing, no if's or but's...it's failing plain and simple, so the easiest way to claw back some numbers is to target those it is easiest to catch.

Look at it another way, when was the last time the federal authorities posted

"We only let 30,000 tons of illegal drugs into the country last year"

It's usually "We stopped 100 tons of drugs entering the US last year"

If they can brag about "we arrested 300 terrorist suspects last month" it reads a lot better to VOTERS than "we missed catching just about anybody worthwhile last month but did catch a load of kids with bright lights"

Make no mistake, once illegal use of lasers is accepted by voters as a "terrorist" act....it's all done. Not because the feds hate lasers but because the public will demand it.

cheers

Dave

 

[NightExplorer96]

The moment public perception is commonly altered to make laser users into terrorists it's all over.

The war on terror is failing, no if's or but's...it's failing plain and simple, so the easiest way to claw back some numbers is to target those it is easiest to catch.

Look at it another way, when was the last time the federal authorities posted

"We only let 30,000 tons of illegal drugs into the country last year"

It's usually "We stopped 100 tons of drugs entering the US last year"

If they can brag about "we arrested 300 terrorist suspects last month" it reads a lot better to VOTERS than "we missed catching just about anybody worthwhile last month but did catch a load of kids with bright lights"

Make no mistake, once illegal use of lasers is accepted by voters as a "terrorist" act....it's all done. Not because the feds hate lasers but because the public will demand it.

cheers

Dave

Well said, it truly is only a matter of time before our hobbies are brought down to dirt.

 

[trussmonkey25]

You know what else is dangerous?

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

Yes, however I have yet see someone throw a rock and hit an airliner at a few thousand feet. We all know how hard it would be to hit a bird in flight with a rock. If I can hit a bird in flight easily with a pointer, I know I could hit a plane. Lets all keep our pointers inside or only aimed very carefully. I just heard of some dumass aiming one out of a car pointing at other drivers in south Carolina on I- 95

 

[NightExplorer96]

Yes, however I have yet see someone throw a rock and hit an airliner at a few thousand feet. We all know how hard it would be to hit a bird in flight with a rock. If I can hit a bird in flight easily with a pointer, I know I could hit a plane. Lets all keep our pointers inside or only aimed very carefully. I just heard of some dumass aiming one out of a car pointing at other drivers in south Carolina on I- 95

Once again, shows how many immature people we have on this planet :scowl: They are going to ruin the hobby for all of us.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

You are discussing the "At Risk Fallacy" as employed by gov't.
At Risk means that if one individual in a population of, say, 100,000
will misuse something, EVERYONE will likely also do so and therefore
all must be regulated. Just great stuff.
HMike

 

[hakzaw1]

and these new laws/regs etc will be impossible to amend or make go away-

it will get much worse. First time a plane crashes or has to do a fly-around at an airport things will speed up. Expect them to be banned from airline carry-on luggage next, followed by checked bags. - USPS will refuse to ship then the others. There will be few places where ANY laser seen will NOT be called in to 911. Maybe we will see a federal ban of fireworks too. IIRC thats what the Bostonbombers used for their pressure cooker devices(IED)

 

[Joshua1998]

It really sucks that immature people ruin it for the rest of us.
I just started getting into the laser hobby but since I live in Australia, what I can do is very limited. I understand why lasers should be kept away from people under 18.
My friend recently obtained his first laser, a <500 mw (green) from China (most likely without an IR filter). He is very irresponsible and found it amusing to point it very close to my eye, (about an inch away) had I turned suddenly (I was not aware he was shining it on my face) I could have been in serious trouble.

There was another incident where there was a plane flying overhead and another guy who had my friend's laser at the time, tried to shine it at the plane, but I grabbed it off him immediately.
It is very clear that under 18's should not have access to lasers.
I hope America doesn't end up like Australia with it's ridiculously strict laws.

 

[OrionBLF]

It really sucks that immature people ruin it for the rest of us. I just started getting into the laser hobby but since I live in Australia, what I can do is very limited. I understand why lasers should be kept away from people under 18. My friend recently obtained his first laser, a <500 mw (green) from China (most likely without an IR filter). He is very irresponsible and found it amusing to point it very close to my eye, (about an inch away) had I turned suddenly (I was not aware he was shining it on my face) I could have been in serious trouble. There was another incident where there was a plane flying overhead and another guy who had my friend's laser at the time, tried to shine it at the plane, but I grabbed it off him immediately. It is very clear that under 18's should not have access to lasers. I hope America doesn't end up like Australia with it's ridiculously strict laws.

Welcome to BLF. Good story. Since we in BLF have limited control over immature people, the authorities will clamp down as hard as they deem fit. As a newbie, it'd be good advice for you to intro yourself at the welcome page and state your location in your signature pls.

 

[NightExplorer96]

It really sucks that immature people ruin it for the rest of us.
I just started getting into the laser hobby but since I live in Australia, what I can do is very limited. I understand why lasers should be kept away from people under 18.
My friend recently obtained his first laser, a <500 mw (green) from China (most likely without an IR filter). He is very irresponsible and found it amusing to point it very close to my eye, (about an inch away) had I turned suddenly (I was not aware he was shining it on my face) I could have been in serious trouble.

There was another incident where there was a plane flying overhead and another guy who had my friend's laser at the time, tried to shine it at the plane, but I grabbed it off him immediately.
It is very clear that under 18's should not have access to lasers.
I hope America doesn't end up like Australia with it's ridiculously strict laws.

It is in fact very immature of him, but I doubt "the laser" is true 500mW, that would cost over $400, but if he spent that much just to think it's fun to shine at others, I would find another friend. :undecided:

 

[Joshua1998]

It is in fact very immature of him, but I doubt "the laser" is true 500mW, that would cost over $400, but if he spent that much just to think it's fun to shine at others, I would find another friend. :undecided:

He just doesn't understand how easy it would be for a serious accident to occur, I reckon it wouldn't be over 100mw through, his Dad bought it for him while he was in China and didn't pay too much for it.

 

[NightExplorer96]

He just doesn't understand how easy it would be for a serious accident to occur, I reckon it wouldn't be over 100mw through, his Dad bought it for him while he was in China and didn't pay too much for it.

Then there is most likely a shitload of IR leaking aswell, please keep on watching him and if you can, take it away from him if he keeps using it like that.

And Im going to +Rep you for taking that laser away from him in the event you described, very responsible of you You helped our hobbies survive a little longer.

 

[hakzaw1]

First report on Good morning america TV show about green lasers being shined at airplanes and FBI investigations New York City.
Not good.

I cannot agree more and while this story may be 'Not good' for us i find that very unimportant when you think about a landing jet full of people will very likely crash and lives will be lost


What I mean is it was the first story they covered. They said that there's been a dramatic increase in events. No, its not that surprising but is disturbing none the less. Cant stand hearing about these kinds of things.

You are very correct Peter- I found this report highly inaccurate-
For example- the rise in incidents--here is what I learned at the Laser Safety Officers class-

at first_

pilots were free to report lasers or not AND they were a rare sighting and practically none were ever aimed at aircraft.

THEN some idiots did point them at aircraft and some pilots DID report this- thusly.. the FAA then made it manditory for any incidents where lasers were pointed at aircraft to be reported so of course the number of reports rose- BUT not entirely due to the lasers themselves but also due to the new 'rule'

After that with the rise in numbers or reports the FAA AGAIN changed the rule- ALL sightings of ANY lasers seen MUST be reported so naturally the numbers rose- these stats have been skewed by how this all played out and the failure of reporters in finding out all the REAL reasons for the rise in reported incidents -

IMO the press is somewhat to blame as we do not know how many terrorists were given the idea to use lasers on landing aircraft untiil AFTER they saw the reports

Now I've been watching/flipping between all the morning news shows for a couple hours now and have seen this reported on every single one of them
What has been interesting is that they are only talking about 532nm lasers. Seems rather odd that no other nm is mentioned. Getting the feeling that the amount of people that are becoming aware that you can purchase a 532nm so inexpensively that will show the entire beam is growing exponentially.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH WICKEDLASER for the role you played in this
;-(

You cannot deny the amazement of what $4 can purchase. It buys a whole lot of trouble for responsible users.

I have watched this now 5 or 6 times- and each time i see more & more terrible journalism - its a totally one-sided report and full of inaccuracies. I highly suggest that EVERY LPF member email your concerns to GMA-
And if you REALLY give a 5hit you will do this TODAY!!

here is how i will approach them-- - I will say this is a very disturbing report and the fears of terrorists with lasers is nothing to take lightly--

HOWEVER almost no good can come of wasting our tax dollars going after the wrong people and it can be said that when something terrible happens
( & as Dr Sam said it WILL)
this slanted report will be looked upon as a very very poor bit of journalism- - full of inaccuraces- and COMPLETELY one-sided-

AND even worse GMA would be partly responsible for what happens due to this report... the solution to terrorists with lasers needs to be handled in the best possible way, ASAP, and that would NOT be done by making handheld lasers illegal to own- as a fellow journalist & hobby laserist myself I am embarrassed by you and that the most important rule of reporting was not done-

checking the facts--

unless GMA cares not about good reporting and/or the safety of Americans aboard planes-you will do a follow-up story ASAP and this time get your facts straight-but frankly I do not see that happening-


Let me know if you care about the truth- I can set up an on-line interview and point out that almost every thing in that report was highly inacccurate- I personly know Dr Sam Goldwasser and we have talked about all this many times and your choice of clips used is far from what I have heard from Dr Sam- we laserists revere him as almost our 'laser Guru'- the segments of this story where Sam was used must have been taken out of context (another broken rule IMO) as he completely agrees with me on how to protect us from laser terrorists -

This is how I see this playing out- lasers over 5mW will become illegal- and as millions of them much more powerful are ALREADY in the hands of many thousands of laserists ,, Thus ..stopping open sales will do nothing but waste even more or our tax dollars-and lives will be lost because the real way to protect aircraft will NOT get done- its not complicated- nor will it cost many millions of dollars- Once in place terrorists will give up that idea-

Feel free to reply and ask me questions -- your story is in dire need of a follow up-

and every night you put this off is another night when something bad can happen and know this- you will be partly to blame- terrorists who saw your story will now look into doing what you THINK your story may stop but you are VERY mistaken--
V/R Len Henzel

 

[aryntha]

It's anybody's guess on how legislators will react at this point, Hak...

I see likely regulations in terms of "laboratory environments", perhaps "laboratory site licenses" where one may use lasers. They won't want to make them difficult for scientific use. But what happens then, do we all as hobbyists get registered "labs"? Maybe that's not the world's most horrible thing... if it's actually doable, and meant that we could get what we wanted even more legitimately than now....

I doubt there will be a ban on -possession-, but if so, that'd be a problem. Making people into criminals overnight. Not good news there.

I could see them doing something "weird" such as regulating only 532nm. Lord knows we've seen "cosmetic bans" on items before.

 

[NightExplorer96]

It's anybody's guess on how legislators will react at this point, Hak...

I see likely regulations in terms of "laboratory environments", perhaps "laboratory site licenses" where one may use lasers. They won't want to make them difficult for scientific use. But what happens then, do we all as hobbyists get registered "labs"? Maybe that's not the world's most horrible thing... if it's actually doable, and meant that we could get what we wanted even more legitimately than now....

I doubt there will be a ban on -possession-, but if so, that'd be a problem. Making people into criminals overnight. Not good news there.

I could see them doing something "weird" such as regulating only 532nm. Lord knows we've seen "cosmetic bans" on items before.

*sigh* I don't understand how some people still continue to be immature and how the media can continue to produce such inacurate stories

It really does kill us for the ones where this is our hobby and this is what we enjoy doing, and little 10 year old's are going to make it bye-bye.

 

[hakzaw1]

It's anybody's guess on how legislators will react at this point, Hak...

I see likely regulations in terms of "laboratory environments", perhaps "laboratory site licenses" where one may use lasers. They won't want to make them difficult for scientific use. But what happens then, do we all as hobbyists get registered "labs"? Maybe that's not the world's most horrible thing... if it's actually doable, and meant that we could get what we wanted even more legitimately than now....

I doubt there will be a ban on -possession-, but if so, that'd be a problem. Making people into criminals overnight. Not good news there.

I could see them doing something "weird" such as regulating only 532nm. Lord knows we've seen "cosmetic bans" on items before.

Matt...
Being a pilot yourself, I value you opinion.. but if history is an indicator- the public(with sensational hysteria thanks to the Press) will call for quick action- and that will happen right after the first plane crashes - or nearly does. And lasers are involved.
And going after those terrorists will be sidestepped in favor of going after the lasers -the path of least resistance-- just like going after guns rather than the bad guys with the guns- Their in-eptness was demonstrated by allowing guns to be sold to shill buyers then basically not following thru-
and the guns went to the drug cartels and who knows how many were killlers by these same weapons..

I published my opinion on this and sent it to ABC/GMA-

I pray a follow -up story gets aired- coz the one I saw was garbage.

hk

 

[kilter]

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

Eh.hem Kipkay???