Laser license?

[Benm]

Permits never come free, and that 'work' would probably not involve more than giving the desired answer to a number of questions. Its like saying you will keep to the speed limit on your drivers exam - everyone essentially does, and most people speed once they get the piece of paper anyways.

On the whole gun thing: Coming for europe, its close to impossible to legally own a firearm here. Doesnt seem to stop gun crime though - gang/organized crime is just as armed as you'd expect. Perhaps it helps a little against accidents and domestic violence, although in the latter case a good hit with a frying pan might prove just as fatal as a gunshot

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

Laws don't stop an Outlaw. They only limit freedom.
Our Constitution is written to limit government but it doesn't stop them.

Go figure.

HMike

 

[Volfram]

I'm glad people are more sensible here than over at the Escapist forums.

Please watch(Note: it's Penn and Teller's BullS***, so there's language, but it's otherwise very good.)

If we are requiring licenses for lasers, why don't we require a license for anything else that could be used offensively. Hmm... let's see... we will start out with forks and knives since you could stab someone with them, so we'll have to eat with our hands.

You know what would really bring out your eyes?

 

[Razako]

Should a permit be required to buy matches? After all one single match can burn an entire forest or building to the ground if used improperly.

 

[lazyazzz12]

This idea sucks then no kids like me who are smart with all there lasers will be able to use them legally. :cryyy:

 

[lasersbee]

The only downside I can see is this...
With a license comes a Database with your name and address..
Once a Moron shines a laser at a Plane or Cop Helicopter they know
the area where the Laser Beam came from...

So expect the Cops to come a knocking if it happened in your area
since they don't have the address of the non licensed Laser wielding
Moron...
You then become a suspect if you own a Laser of the same color.:undecided:

Just a thought....


Jerry

 

[f22warzone]

I love to see people advocate bigger and more intrusive government instead of demanding personal responsibility. *
Oh well -- Americans have allowed many of their freedoms and cash to disappear over the years and we are no better off now.. *

Regulation ----- registration ----- confiscation. * *It's happened in the past and it will come here. SOON

Mike

Man anybody that’s taken a college level government class should have stopped here at wanting a laser license as that’s about as true and simplistic as you can put it.

The only downside I can see is this...
With a license comes a Database with your name and address..
Once a Moron shines a laser at a Plane or Cop Helicopter they know
the area where the Laser Beam came from...

So expect the Cops to come a knocking if it happened in your area
since they don't have the address of the non licensed Laser wielding
Moron...
You then become a suspect if you own a Laser of the same color.:undecided:

Just a thought....


Jerry

Also this one is one of the best points in the forum I think because you know it would happen if the government would be able to create a data base. As lazy as our local enforcement is they would be looking for any shortcut possible to get their 5 min of fame on the news for capturing the dangerous terrorist that almost shot down the plan at 5,000ft

A license for hand held pointers would be bad as like these to post says they will limit your ability to use and buy lasers witch none of us want and would make it easier for us to get into trouble for just owning one.

 

[aXit]

Do we really want a screwed up country like Australia with the government banning everything in sight and customs so strict that you can't import half of the things on dealXtreme?

It is pretty damn thorough too.

Complete ban on possession/use in public, import, and internal trade. I read the laws quite in depth, I couldn't find anything on possession in the general sense, just in public; so having them at home in my desk, or using them on private property doesn't seem to be an issue. But going camping, and taking my lasers with me to see the beams without light pollution, is illegal.

You know, because there are so many more low-flying planes out there...

 

[neokeelo]

I have a question about this. If I return to Japan, could the airport police confiscate my laser at the airport even if I have the batteries out and it is separated?

 

[Fonduman]

you could take it apart so they dont recognise it lol

 

[KGB_Productions]

^^^^^^^
NECROPOST

I bet he is already back from this trip.

 

[Morgan]

^Or serving time for smuggling fully assembled lasers!!! :crackup:

Sorry, I know this thread is dead but couldn't resist...

M

 

[ICU]

Another problem with a license is exactly who is permitted to have one and what do they have to do to get it? Licenses/permits for some things are easy to get and all one need do is to fill out an application and pay a fee. But others are very restrictive, like getting a permit to carry a concealed firearm. Be careful what you wish for...

+1000


Once the Government grabs hold of something, you loose your rights.

This may sound a little extreme but I'd rather not find out.



Just answer a few questions please.

Are you over 21?


Do you have any prier arrest?


Have you ever seen a psychiatrist or sought mental or emotional counseling?


Have you been in the service and suffered and PTSD?


Are you on any medication?


If you pass the background check, you will be required to pay a licensing fee ($$$ of there choice)
to be renewed on a yearly bases.


Like I said I'd rather not find out.

 

[Fonduman]

lol its annoying when everyone gets overexcited and starts branding things weapons. is my chair a weapon too then? pretty sure I could kill someone with it, better start issuing the chair licenses. or, not be idiots, and issue licenses for things which were developed with the purpose of doing harm in mind, which i believe to be a better definition for weapon than "could do harm"
although im against everyone having guns, regardless of licenses or not. I find the idea of knowing just about anyone you see could kill you in seconds, with you helpless, more scary than just having a few scattered pockets of criminals who have guns.

 

[davidgdg]

There is no analogy between guns and lasers. Guns are designed and intended to cause damage to humans and animals. Hobbyist lasers are designed and intended to produce pretty looking beams, nice patterns and colours. They are not weapons and are far less dangerous than a hammer or a knife. It is true that a hobbyist laser can cause eye damage, but the likely victim is the user. The idea that a hobbyist laser could be used as a weapon is fantasy. What mugger is going to stand still whilst you carefully try to aim the beam into his pupil? The only use of a laser as a weapon is for bashing somebody over the head.

As for Government Regulation generally, what Hemlock Mike says.

 

[LSRFAQ]

As one of my professional laser friends said yesterday, "The law is already on the books, to require a variance for a display or entertainment laser, in public. All you need to do is consider a pointer a display or entertainment laser, which it is. All you need then is enforcement."

Btw, variances are free, now. There is no age requirement on a variance.

What I think will happen, If your under 18, I'm sorry, but your parents will have to buy you the completed unit.

What you assemble in your basement and do not introduce into business or trade is your own business. Up until recently, a requirement for ham radio licenses in most countries was a requirement that you assemble, on your own, some form of radio receiver, even if it only had 10 parts. This did a very good job of keeping out the wanttabes.

The gripe of most people outside the pointer community is the sales of a 500 mW device to a person with no instruction or morals. I can show you the case of a 21 year old fellow in Cleveland who thought nothing of buying a very hot pointer in Canada, crossed the border with it. He then spent a evening illuminating aircraft, including Lifeflight and Police Helicopters, from a road along a runway. Along with with three of his friends from a moving car. He was a convicted felon, and this sent him back to prison.

That is the problem, not the folks who want to learn, but the bad apples who see a youtube video, say I need one of those, and have NO idea what they are doing.

Sadly, it is possibly in the best interest of the pointer fans, to restrict sales to 5 mW or less to the general public, under the existing rules, and thus keep use to the few who can truely respect the safety requirements.

Of course the fact that the government is operating under outdated gas laser rules with no effective enforcement has not helped. Border enforcement is done by Customs, and with the huge loads of containers coming in, its hard to inspect for big worries, let alone a box of pointers or illegal laser projectors. Gas lasers greater then 10-20 mW henes required 1-2 Kilowatts of input power. Portable ment a generator or long extension cord. Not a pair of AA batteries.

The issue is, as power grows more and more, is when does the major "incident" occur, that seals the deal.

Lasers are starting to follow "Moore's Law" on power and cost, and that is going to lead to trouble. That and the fact that all China cares about is your dollars, not your safety and laws. Chinese profit on these things has to be about 20:1. Its a cakewalk for them, because they do not have the environmental rules and labor costs the US or most of the rest of the world does. The person assembling your pointer would be lucky to make the equivalent of 4,000$ a year. Probably 85% of that goes to their baseline cost of living, ie apartment, food, and transport. That leaves 600$ a year for discretionary things, clothes, travel, gifts, children, computers, cameras, etc.

Government is reactionary. It will listen if you come up with a solution now, but once the dam breaks, and it gets into the media, nothing you say will help the pointer cause. Time to be proactive folks, and proactive means keeping these devices in the hands of those who respect them.

Laser pointers greater then a few milliwatts are starting to become something between a drug and a gun.

Think about it,

Steve