The future of laser ownership

[Razako]

I agree with the point about DX. How many of these laser incidents involve expensive lasers from wicked/nova/laserglow/optotronics/oem/other known seller?
>90% of these incidents involve a cheapo $30 ebayser or newwish penlaser.
Anyone willing to spend $1000 or more for a RPL 300 knows better than to shine it at planes.

Right now every irresponsible kid, criminal or general idiot with a paypal account and $30 can obtain a 50mw green laser and harass planes or helicopters with it. Imagine what would happen if people could buy cheap inexpensive guns and ammunition online

 

[Cyparagon]

 

[Petrovski]

I'm guessing what happened in AU could happen almost anywhere. All it takes are a few ingredients. As the number of laser hobbyists increases in a country, the chances that some irresponsible people will gain access to high powered lasers increases as well. Add a few (near) incidents, add a government who's eager to show the public (read: voters) they care for public safety and bingo.

Due to the fact the laser hobby is still pretty much completely underground in the Netherlands I should be OK for now.

 

[iewed]

Some of the advantages of the laser hobby is that you can't be a complete moron in order to obtain a truly harmful laser. And keep in mind how your peers would react if you walked up and said "Yo dawg! Check out dis new laza I got on eBay! It can blind you foo!". I think that a combination of intelligence required, and the sheer ignorance people acts as a temporary repellent until some bozo gets hold of a 500mW DX laser, and starts harming pilots and officials.

 

[Helioplasma]

--------death count per year-----|-----status-----------------------------|
Guns : 27,877 (US only) not banned
-----------10130 homicide
-----------16599 suicide
-----------824 unitentional
-----------324 undetermined

Lasers : 0
-----------10-20 attemps banned in AU, pending in UK, US.

See the nonsense.

 

[Hemlock_Mike]

The Constitution and Bill of Rights is all we have in America to prevent a monarchy. What you are seeing is called the "At Risk Fallacy" -- That is if in a population of say 100,000, one person abuses a gun, laser, golf club, baseball bat, car, kitchen knife ----- etc, then everyone in that population must be regulated, regestered, licensed and TAXED because WE
are suspect of having no social responsibility.
This is partly why WE in the US have the second Amendment. WE have to oversee government -- and we are doing a poor job of that.
Who let the FDA become the FDLA ?? and why ??

Mike

 

[VillageIdiot]

I really can't comment on gun suicides. If guns were banned, would suicides go down? No, people would find a different (probably slower and more painful) ways of killing themselves.

Good point, reminds me of Hulk Hogan's kid, daddy has plenty of money, so he was able to afford that high horsepower car you speak of and look what happened......an American IRAQ War Vet is now in a coma, and Nick is in jail; it's all very sad, an immature teenager should not have ever had that car.

For anyone who doesn't know... this is what happened.

Epic. And just look at those turbos! I could sleep in them!

 

[caleb]

theyre prety much illegal everywhere, <5mw. but im sure they can still import 300mw 532nm.
and im am australian and mannage to keep mine away from aeroplanes.
seeing as i am a pilot!

 

[cybob101]

a pilot into lasers now that should pop the governments bubble. being as aussie as well i can see what you guys are talking about but i also am not loaded and currently the only lasers i am willing to dish out for are dx lasers( got a br coming already ) i understand that the cheapness of dx will mean easier access to reasonably powerful lasers to almost anybody, but how can the hobby as a whole stop idiots getting them. there isn't a way to screen out the idiots also the government way of dealing with it is ridiculous. short of opening every package and looking for laser diodes and other laser thing how will they stop us?

them imposing this ban more likely than not increases the number of people getting lasers. it increases the chance of idiots finding about them and the possible "fun" that is to be had with them. and the governments logic? they may say what other uses do laser have for a civilan other than such stupid acts, but the is astronomy, pointing(ie in a lecture) science. yet some idiot hits a plane with one then all of a sudden the whole community get punished for it?

according tto that logic. axes, knives, cars, bats, water, pillows, pens, needles, legs, fingers, all hardware tools, bars of all shapes and sizes, fences, GUNS, forks, anything long and sturdy, bricks pretty much everything should be banned. people drown in water, get sufforcated on pillows choke on pens stabbed by needles, knives, hit by cars blah blah blah

hmmmm so tell me is the government correct in banning lasers?

 

[cybob101]

as for the higher quality and power lasers it shouldn't have to be price regulated but trust regulated as in customers should be a trusted and reliable member of a community like our own before even finding out about the companies which sell powerful lasers, ie the way carter and jack operate. it ensure that no bogan or redneck who wants to hit a plane can get a truly dangerous laser.