Gov't Report: Laser Pointers Produce Too Much Energy, Pose Risk For the Careless 260
coondoggie writes "Commercial grade green and red laser pointers emit energy far beyond what is safe, posing skin, eye and fire hazards. That was the conclusion of a National Institute of Standards and Technology study on the properties of handheld lasers. The study tested 122 of the devices and found that nearly 90% of green pointers and about 44% of red pointers tested were out of federal safety regulation compliance."
Re:So then... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's why we can't have nice things. Idiots point lasers at aircraft blinding the pilots and the .gov bans them. Nobody has any common sense.
Re:So then... (Score:2, Insightful)
Something tells me you don't know the difference between a Code of Federal Regulations and a ban.
Re:So then... (Score:0, Insightful)
A regulation is a ban by another name.
Life is unsafe (Score:4, Insightful)
In a similar report, we've found that 100% of lighters, knives, crampons and Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifles are outside tolerable limits for safety.
Seriously, you'll shoot your eye out, kid.
Re:So then... (Score:5, Insightful)
Have governments have banned you from driving? Because the government regulates who can and cannot drive, in the form of a driver's license. They also regulate how fast you can travel on the road.
Have governments banned you from drinking? Because government regulates who can and cannot buy alcohol.
If the TFA is serious... (Score:2, Insightful)
Back in the day men use to resolve these problems on their own. Why the fuck is this even neccissary, and at the very worst "harm caused by laser" in court is perfectly well covered by a gazillion pre-existing assault laws. Should be, "assault with any fucking bloody object". Make it a fucking law and stop tacking bullshit on or putting your grubby little regulatory hands into the marketplaces of this country over stupid shit.
Oh, we can do something about THAT? (Score:5, Insightful)
No. Fuck this shit. I move that every citizen of the USA shall receive from the government one glock 9 mm pistol, one box of hollow point ammunition, one multi-watt laser pointer, one... no, make that TWO extremely fucking dangerous magnets, [unitednuclear.com] and a big fucking bucket of fireworks, to do with as they please. In one year, the survivors can get together and discuss additional regulation. :-/
It's not a ban. (Score:5, Insightful)
The government regulators have no desire to prevent you from buying or selling higher power lasers. They do care when you lie to your customers and tell them the lasers are less dangerous than they actually are. They care when you use shoddy manufacturing that allows harmful IR to escape the casing, while again telling the customer that they are completely shielded against this. If these lasers worked as advertized, then there wouldn't be a problem. Alternately if they were sold as class 3B devices (which is what they effectively are) there would be no problem, as the purchasers would know the risks and could plan accordingly. But they weren't and the manufacturers/importers should be held responsible for their recklessness.
Re:So then... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:How else... (Score:5, Insightful)
Not so much that...as that it seems the govt. figures we are all fucking idiots that can't be trusted with our own judgment to use anything more dangerous than a butter knife, or maybe those rounded edge scissors we all got in first grade.
I sure miss lawn darts and clackers and....
Re:So then... (Score:5, Insightful)
Any random person above the age of 16 can acquire a driver's license. There is no restriction, other than age.
Any random person above the age of 21 can purchase alcohol. There is no restriction, other than age.
Those statements are not true when it comes to controlled substances. The Controlled Substances Act effectively bans all Schedule I drugs for any purpose. Even people who would otherwise be allowed to manufacture, purchase, or consume Schedule I drugs (i.e. medical marijuana) are in violation of the federal law.
Now, is the CSA a regulation? Yes. All bans are a regulation, but not all regulations are a ban. This concept is easy to understand in terms of "all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares". Why is it so difficult when it comes to government regulations?
Re:So then... (Score:4, Insightful)
And how, precisely, would "polarized glasses" stop laser light?
Insightful, indeed.
Re:How else... (Score:5, Insightful)
it seems the govt. figures we are all fucking idiots that can't be trusted with our own judgment to use anything more dangerous than a butter knife, or maybe those rounded edge scissors we all got in first grade
I think thats pretty accurate for how a very large number of people in the country should be treated. I definitely don't want a lot of people I know with a commercial laser, as I do like my eyesight. I have a 500 lumen flashlight (its really really bright in a tightly focused beam) and the number of people I told "don't point it at your face because its incredibly bright", that did exactly that is astounding. When I asked why? their response was its only a flashlight... I've seen several people do that with lasers too. Not to mention that is the governments targeted mentality with their current form of "education".
Re:How else... (Score:2, Insightful)
"figures we are all fucking idiots" more like "KNOWS MOST of us are fucking idiots". Some~most people have poor judgement, and no one really cares about saving them from themselves, but instead keeping by-standards from being victims of their poor judgement. It's why we can't have nice things. Shouldn't everyone get to have nuclear weapons?
Re:So then... (Score:3, Insightful)
As well as 99% of all light. They do need to see where they are going :)
Lasers are sometimes polarized, so you could accomplish this with one filter, but you would have to align it with the polarization of the laser, which would require some sort of active system, and there you've gone through all that trouble and only get partial results for lasers that have that polarization. If you were going to go through that much trouble, just build an active system to detect the laser source. What you do once you've targeted the source, I'll leave up to your imagination.
Re:How else... (Score:3, Insightful)
Ah, in favor of tyranny - what a surprise. You'll be glad to know you're not alone - intellectuals have been speaking the same words as you, but calling it Coercive Paternalism instead so it sounds good. [amazon.com]
"In this book, Sarah Conly rejects the idea of autonomy as inviolable. Thus in many cases it would advance our goals more effectively if government were to prevent us from acting in accordance with our decisions. Her argument challenges widely held views of moral agency, democratic values and the public/private distinction, and will interest readers in ethics, political philosophy, political theory and philosophy of law."
No more freedom because we might make choices that Sarah Conly disagrees with. What was that bit in George Orwell's seminal tract on tyranny, Animal Farm?
"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
Re:Life is unsafe (Score:5, Insightful)
Hell no. These are not like knives.
These laser pointers are much more dangerous that you might think. Sweep a 120mW laser across the eyes of a room full of people at 10 feet and you've just permanently damaged their retinas before anyone could blink.
Used with care, they can be crazy awesome fun and I have several, but I treat them as munitions and keep them well locked away because I'm aware of exactly what damage they can do.
You seriously do not want these in the hands of yobbos who will wave them in the eyes of the first child they see saying, "Look, lightsaber!"
Re:How else... (Score:4, Insightful)
I bought an overpowered green laser "pointer"
I didn't.
My experience with other people and normal-powered lasers means I wouldn't trust anybody else to have it within a mile of other people's eyes. Constantly having to tell people "no" and "because you're an idiot, that's why" isn't worth it.