Laser Pointer Weapon

A friend sent me an article describing how green laser pointers are useful to Army soldiers to deter moving vehicles. I stumbled across this concept a few months ago at a professional conference. An earlier background article gives deeper perspective. A few things pop into my mind:

• “Green means Go” pretty universally around the world. Wait until some target driver swerves his car, is injured, and starts suing everybody.
• It’s not eye safe enough for us to shine at our office-mates’ eyes, so how can we shine it at theirs? (Funny things about modern warfare: you can kill them, but you can’t blind them or injure them.)
• Why do we need green lasers? We already know red lasers are effective enough at modifying target behavior. That’s why shining them at/on people is illegal in many cities and townships, and most large amusement ride parks will confiscate them or boot you out of the park.

Ahh… it’s a short article with little content. I suspect they needed to write something to fill the quota..

Interesting links:

1. Zapping cameras you think are an invasion of privacy.
2. A politically slanted, ironic commentary on Australian law against swords and laser pointers. (Think of how the lawyers are going to have fun distinguishing kitchen knives from swords.)
3. Patriot Act used to prosecute shining a laser into pilot eyes.
4. Maximum green laser power allowed by law. I actually own one of these. I didn’t know I lives so close to the edge. 🙂
5. Student suffers permanent eye damage. “Fear of such an incident had already led numerous school systems and local governments around the nation to ban or restrict the devices.”
6. A technical overview of laser pointer safety. “…one Chicago suburb has banned the sale of laser pointers to persons under age 18.”