This is what ruins it for us!

[DJVege]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23439180-29277,00.html

THREE men are being questioned over separate laser attacks on a police helicopter over Easter.

The first attack, in Western Australia, happened on Thursday when Polair 61 was struck several times with a green laser beam as it patrolled around Joondanna.
The crew had to take evasive action, police said.
The crew determined the offender was activating the laser from a property in Yokine. Police sent there apprehended one person seized a laser.
The second attack happened about ten minutes later as the crew were dealing with the initial laser strike.
A second offender was tracked to a Joondanna address where he was apprehended and a laser seized.

The third laser incident occurred on Friday night when Polair was patrolling around Morley andt was struck on several occasions with a green laser beam.
The offender was tracked to a Dianella address and taken into custody.

[iceman]

At least they're capturing them.. so hopefully they'll learn to stop doing it.

I wonder what the punishment is though, apart from taking their laser away from them.

[Kokatha man]

I'm not the vigilante type; but being a dyed-in-the-wool laser scope finder afficianado, these particular types (or is it quite "type-less") really shive me off!

[DJVege]

I'm fairly sure it's a fine.

[Ric]

Yep, thanks to these individuals and their lack of thought it will lead to knee jerk reactions by those in power against the rest us who are the responsible users.

[ngcles]

Hi All,

Mike wrote:

"I wonder what the punishment is though, apart from taking their laser away from them."

As one who has spent (wasted) a hell of a lot of time hanging around courts over the years (in NSW), I'd say that assuming a reasonable or good police record, they are likely to be fined somewhere between $200 and $400- plus nominal Court costs and forfeiture of the laser. Not nearly enough.

I see a time when a permit will be required for them in NSW is quickly approaching (they will classify them as a "Prohibited Article"). That is not necessarily a bad thing, though it will be a pain in the you-know-what to have to renew every once and a while and justiify why it is needed. The upside of course is that such a system will put-off many (sadly, not all) the miscreants.

When I use mine at Sydney Observatory I am, virtually without fail asked "where do I get one"? I tell 'em its a state-secret. ;)

Best,

Les D

[DJVege]

I just don't use mine anymore. Too many idiots that see it think it's a great idea.

"Let's shine it at planes".
"Let's point it at people's eyes"

[Outbackmanyep]

YEP! Just like the Gun laws....

[citivolus]

This whole story sounds like an organised crackdown to make examples of a few people. One event doesn't get noticed by the media, but arrest 3 people and it will make the front page locally.

[MrB]

According to the news story on TV last night, the WA laws will be changed later this year.
Didn't catch the full details but heard something about owners need to have a legitimate use for the devices.... sounds like licensing to me.
Always wanted to try holography (http://www.holoworld.com/holo/diode.html).....

EDIT: oh... and the news story said it was a 30 MEGAWatt laser pointer... hahahaha

[citivolus]

See this storm over here on Jupiter?

[Ric]

Blimey 30 megawatts eh! :lol:

I think we all would have seen that one shining into the night sky over here on the East coast. :P

Cheers

[snowyskiesau]

And another incident, (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23453714-29277,00.html) this time in Sydney, from a 'cluster' of lasers.

I'd better buy one of these things before they change the law!

[asterisk]

But wait, there's more ...

"NSW Police Minister David Campbell vowed yesterday to change the law to classify powerful laser beams as illegal weapons."

"Australian and International Pilots Association general manager Peter Somerville said pilots wanted authorities to crack down on the lasers.
"These devices should be banned. There is no need for them. It is beyond stupid to point these at planes," he said. "We need to better co-ordinate with police so they can catch them in the act."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/laser-snipers-hit-planes/2008/03/29/1206207485440.html

[erick]

If the law does change, you will most probably have to seek and be granted a license to be permitted to continue owning and using it, regardless of when you purchased it. They may be a bit more difficult to obtain after law change since an importer/distributer/retailer may well also need a license and many won't bother - just stop handling them?

[Davros]

There is a poll running on the ninemsn web page about banning laser pointers. Might be time to go out and buy one while i still can. :mad2:

[Outbackmanyep]

What the fire truck are we supposed to use now??

Why is it that all because of a few tools that we ALL should be punished???

[rochler]

shiny robot @ss if they think they can take mine off me.

Even when some guy runs over a whole group of teenagers with his car (kills four) they don't rush out & ban cars now do they? Hmmmm? Where's the logic?

The trouble is this is ALWAYS the reaction whenever some idiot causes trouble - ban the equipment, shoot the messenger, burn the witch etc. Why? Coz it's the EASY way out.

And obviously the ONLY LOSERS are the people who wouldn't dream of doing such a moronic thing. The morons will CONTINUE to do it irrespective of the new law. It's just SOOOO frustrating :mad2:...

[Louwai]

Always the same no matter what.
My motorcycle insurance goes up every year. Insurance co says it's to cover costs of rising accident costs & medical costs.

If the young (and some old) idiots would wear full gear & stop riding in shorts, tee shirt & runners, there wouldn't be such a high "medical expense" outlay.

I reckon they should make a lot more than just a helmet compulsory.

[MrB]

Normal.
Try driving a nice modified car without the police pulling you over twice a day, because you're obviously as hoon. :rolleyes:

I have a few hobbies(and potential hobbies) that are affected by Darwin-Award style idiots and are now heavily regulated in one form or another.
One of these is pyrotechnics... Fireworks.
I used to (Illegally) make my own.... but since 9/11, gave-up trying to get the necessary chemicals for obvious reasons. Don't want to be considered a terror suspect now do I? :rolleyes:

[tornado33]

Yes I have no intention of handing in my 100 milliwatt laser if they are declared illegal.
By the way I bet the govt. isnt aware that inside every cheap $40 DVD burner lies a massive 200+ milliwatt red laser diode, capable of igniting matches and throwing out a visible beam (rare for a red laser). Also, though much more expensive, inside every Blu Ray burner lies a very much more potent blue laser diode, rated up to 250miliwatt. These can be made into laser pointers by anyone with some basic electronics experience. So if importing them is stopped, a nice lucrative black market underground for ultra powerful laser pointers will appear. I should say that a 250milliwatt blue laser would be very nasty if mis used, the light is much more energetic and more sharply focused.

I also saw on ebay once an infra red 7 watt laser diode, that, using a special frequency doubling crystal, one could make a blue laser with a power of over 3 full WATTS!

Theres also plans to make use of the ever more efficient solid state laser diode technology to put infra red lasers onboard the Joint Strike Fighters in the US, of a huge 100 Kw capacity, capable of destroying targets, but they are concerned that if fired at something like a car on the ground, reflected IR light from shiny parts of it could blind people 100 km away!

[programmer]

Your 100mW laser is already illegal. Also, I'm not sure what your argument is. Bombs are not legal, but can be easily put together. Firearms can be bought on the black market. Doesn't mean everything should be legal because they can be obtained by other means. It's a bit like in the other laser thread, people asking where they can get a laser before they are banned. Even if you can buy one now, what are you going to do with it once it is banned? I'm only putting this forward for the sake of friendly discussion :) I'm all for astronomers having lasers. I have one myself.