I'm kind of on the fence about this... if the permits are inexpensive and available, it might not so bad. Responsible owners can purchase one and be able to own and use one. Most people wouldn't even need it since they won't be taking it outside to "play with."
The thing is, while I believe most of the people here in this forum are responsible laser owners (or to-be owners), there are a lot of idiots out there who will find it fun to zap another person's eyes with some 30mW greenie they bought for $25 on DX. I remember in junior high how some kids would zap each other using AC transformers and a capacitor or something (not sure how they got it to actually work), shoot paperclip pidgeons, streak peoples' faces with permanent markers, etc. In some places people have burned other peoples' hair, doused them in chemicals, and other terrible things. Kids are becoming more and more sophisticated in their toys and "weapons".
Nowadays, high-powered lasers are cheaper and more available than ever before, deliverable to any place in the world, and easily purchased with services like Paypal. They do carry a real danger, and can cause permanent blindness. 14 years for someone possessing a Class III laser is a bit severe, but it's probably to account for idiots walking around with them like weapons or prank-tools. I know I don't like the idea of kids walking around waving Class IIIb lasers around shining at people. We all know that people love to shine those types of things (lasers, flashlights, etc.) at peoples' eyes. Such a law won't prevent any really malicious attacks--they never do--but it might scare the idiots into thinking twice.
The sad part about all this is that it just makes everything a big hassle for the legitimate, responsible owners.
