Tuesday, August 05, 2014

Laser Strikes

It seems that a California court has sentenced a man for striking a police helicopter with a laser beam.
The man, Brett Lee Scott of Buttonwillow, took a plea deal with federal prosecutors according to a May 5, 2014 court filing. Scott explained his actions by saying that he was “bored.”
It's dangerous to shoot laser beams at airplanes, helicopters and the like  It's also  illegal.  What many people don't know is that it's dangerous to fire a laser beam at a person.  Laser beams are tough on eyes, and if you strike a person in the face, it can blind them.  Even the toy lasers sold in beach-front gift shops are cumulatively dangerous.

I was explaining that to a person once, and they remonstrated, "They sell those things in toy shops, how can that be dangerous?  It's perfectly legal to buy a laser"

I replied.  "They sell rifles at Wal-Mart.  Perfectly legal.  Do you want me pointing my rifle at you?"

This is simply a public service announcement  Lasers are dangerous.  Treat them like they're dangerous.

1 comment:

  1. Yep, we had a pilot permanently grounded a few years ago from a green laser that hit the cockpit on final... He lost about 40% of his vision in his left eye.

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