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Travelling with your lasers and dealing with police?

Vision

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Do you guys travel with your lasers and if so how do you deal with it?
I'm into photography, I was thinking of taking them with me to take some nice landscape pictures. Seeing as the Arcane 2.0 looks like a big heavy flashlight, I'm guessing without the batteries it'll pass security quite easily?

Say you get stopped for a checkup or whatever and a cop asks to see your laser and turns it on, I'm guessing looking at a 7W, they'll freak out, considering they've probably never seen anything like that. It'll just get taken. I've read past threads where police have straight up just confiscated lasers and "destroyed" them. I think a good idea would be to get a phosphor coated glass, kinda like WL's Phosforce and mod that into your laser and as soon as you turn it on...its just a flashlight. I don't want my expensive laser to just end up getting taken and destroyed.

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Razako

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I like the phosphor glass idea. Convert your laser into a flashlight if police ask about it.
 
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I don't know, I don't think I would take it if traveling by air, too much chance of loosing it.

Alan
 

Vision

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Yup, I'd need to mod it specifically for the Arcane 2.0. I think its worth it.
And yeah, it is risky but I rather have them with me.
 
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If you're driving it shouldn't be a problem. Keep them in the trunk or under the seat. As long as you don't allow them to search, they need a warrant to even look. If you are flying, it's a different story. I'd probably dissemble them and put them in luggage. Carry on is too dangerous, IMO.
 
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This is a good concern. That's why I never take the laser with me.
 
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1. Cops can and will ALWAYS find a pretext to search your car if they want to.
-Most popular method is to claim to smell weed, and/or get a dog to false alert on a search.
-If you step out of the car you'll be showed aside, not hard, but enough to prevent you from closing door. Door ajar, they are allowed to go into your car now. If you don't step out you're disobeying an order and are subject to arrest. Once again, your car is searched.

The goods news is there is nothing inherently illegal about owning or traveling with a laser within the US. If you do and you don't take out the batteries, you're being an idiot though.

The bad news, lasers can and will be confiscated under pretense of safety, and you could be charged with disturbing the peace, or some other such BS, if you're unlucky.

2. Putting anything expensive, or unusual into checked luggage is a good way to lose it. Your bags do go through an xray machine, and unscrupulous baggage handlers will take things that look interesting or expensive.

3. If you MUST have a laser while traveling, it does belong in your carry one, dissembled, and separated from batteries. You would also be served well to have a plausible reason for why you have a light. For example, it's a curing light for ceramics with the lens removed.

4. You do not want to bring anything large and metallic with you like the arcane. Nor is there a good reason to. You can just as easily use a smaller 1-2W laser, that won't be anywhere near as unusual looking or intimidating, in a nice, neat, flashlight looking C6 or similar host.

5. Like it or not the word laser has negative connotations to the uneducated. Avoid using it if possible.

6. Make sure your batteries are stored in carry boxes.

If you absolutely must have a laser where you're going, ship it there ahead of time.
 

Razako

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I take my cheapo throwaway ebay lasers if I'm going somewhere away from home. If cops wanna confiscate my 301 it's not the end of the world.
 
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Well, I have actually been stopped by the police on a pretext and as a leaving question, asked if they could search my car. I never allow this as it is giving away your fourth amendment rights. If you are aware of the door being ajar for a pretext to search, I know I can always get the door closed. There is no way I've ever let the police to search my car on a traffic stop. It has happened to me several times and they have yet to search.
 
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It depends on the cops. How are you going to close the door when you're being showed away by one of them? Shove back and risk an assault on a pig charge?
 
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It really has never come up, but I suppose if I were ordered out of the car, I'd get out on the passenger side and close it before the cop could do anything about it. If you are aware, there is almost always a way.
 

Razako

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It depends on the cops. How are you going to close the door when you're being showed away by one of them? Shove back and risk an assault on a pig charge?
It's almost getting to the point where everybody needs cameras just to monitor their interactions with the police. Otherwise they'll just hold you at the stop and wait for a k9 unit to come check your car out. Either that or they'll make the entirely fail proof claim that they "smelled marihuana":yabbmad: If they wanna search your car they'll find a way to do it, probable cause or not. Truly a sad state of affairs in this once free country.

I personally blame the war on drugs for the defilement of our fourth amendment rights, and the degradation of interactions between police and the citizens.
 
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The war on drugs is absolutely to blame I agree.

Also thoroughly agree that any interaction with LEOs must be recorded, and yes, we all do need cameras. Without video evidence, there is nothing to contradict whatever fictional narrative a cop dreams up.

To believe that cops don't outright lie, collabarate, and omit details, day in, day out, given all the constant evidence to the contrary is crazy.
 

Razako

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The war on drugs is absolutely to blame I agree.

Also thoroughly agree that any interaction with LEOs must be recorded, and yes, we all do need cameras. Without video evidence, there is nothing to contradict whatever fictional narrative a cop dreams up.

To believe that cops don't outright lie, collabarate, and omit details, day in, day out, given all the constant evidence to the contrary is crazy.
Unarmed man killed by Arizona cop cried, begged for life
:(:(:(
Welcome to America. Better not pull your pants up, or a cop with "you're F**ked inscribed on his AR15 will blow you away.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/09/the-counted-police-killings-us-vs-other-countries
Somehow our police kill more citizens in days than they kill within a year in European countries.
 
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