Time to emigrate....

[skwinty (Steve)]

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

Depends upon how passionate you are about this, or any issue.

Apathy is the killer. Write a letter to your local member. Call a shock jock.
Write to the papers.

"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more" comes to mind.

Apart from 1) not getting re-elected...pollies really hate getting a lot of negative letters about *really dumb* policy- making them worry about point 1)

Either that or wander off into the paddock and join the other sheep...

From your last comment, its seems that you have lived a priveledged and sheltered life. Try living in a country where criminals have more rights than victims and then re-assess your position.
As I said in an earlier post, make a concerted effort and petition and you may make some headway in this matter. My way of interpreting the sheep in the paddock is, only the wolves are outside the paddock.

[Harb]

This truly is a big brother society we are living in............face it, the bad guys win hands down every time.......if not directly, indirectly limiting the honest folk.......

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by skwinty

.... make a concerted effort and petition and you may make some headway in this matter. My way of interpreting the sheep in the paddock is, only the wolves are outside the paddock.

Sheltered? Not exactly... I did pass on an offer at Wonderboom in 1985 to fly "agricultural machinery" into Angola

I suspect we are looking at similar problems from the opposite extremes.

Page 3 of the SA Star is depressing...plus, for sure, many in Oz have no concept of oppression (my grandmother really did run run the Nazis')....and very thankfully in 2008 much in Oz much is benign...but where do you draw a line in the sand?

[Glenhuon (Bill)]

OK maybe I did put my point of view a bit too forcefully. (BTW I did email the two ministers and my local member re the legitimate users of Laser Pointers). The point I was trying to make was while we are watching the fish in the frypan, the BBQ is going on behind us.
Because of the stupidity of a minority, a piece of equipment used by some of us is now subject to legal control, this has happened before and it will again. You can't make it idiot proof, someone always invents a better idiot.

Don't blame governments, they are driven by opinion and the will to be re-elected. Don't blame the police, they don't make the laws, only enforce them whether they individually agree or not. This law is small in the scheme of things, you are not being banned from owning this instrument, only have to licence it because of a few airheads. Says more about our society than our lawmakers.

Bill

[Harb]

This was well said

When we start giving up everything that someone has misused, abused, or found some malevolent use for, we'd have little left. When we start giving up more freedoms for the sake of "security", we are then neither free nor secure.

[Harb]

has someone got a link to the people we should Email re this ?

as a side note google "banned by iemma government"...........hahahaha what an eye opener !!! lets ban everything

[Geoff45 (Geoff)]

The problem of applying for one of these things legally for astronomical use is that the moment you tell them that you are going to point it in the SKY (where aeroplanes fly) you are going to get involved in endless red tape. After all this whole banning business was started off by a few idiots pointing lasers upwards.
Geoff

[snowyskiesau]

Being an astronomer is being given as a valid reason to have a laser pointer.
Will the pending legislation define what an astronomer is and if so, how do we 'prove' that we are an astronomer?

Perhaps it will be only available to people who list astronomer on their tax return or maybe we'll have to take a telescope down to the local police station when we register as an owner of a weapon

[Ric]

Interesting point Geoff, you'll probably to show your membership card of your local recognised Astro society.

Cheers

[Cerberus]

fine, if they're going to make exemptions that's ok, but at what costs? from what i have heard if the laser pointer will be treated like a restricted weapon(and nothing to do with value of item) then it needs to be stored correctly(with proof), used correctly, carried correctly, serviced/modified in a certain way with documentation etc someone said the police may even demand to inspect the storage area, with a cost of $100!

basically if this turns out to be true, what will happen is individual astronomers will go back to using their fingers/long stick and only the larger clubs can afford to keep them and will carry the laser pointers to meets to be used under controlled conditions

[fringe_dweller]

Originally Posted by snowyskiesau

Will the pending legislation define what an astronomer is and if so, how do we 'prove' that we are an astronomer?

just show them the bleary bloodshot eyes, the empty credit card and point out at least 3 known celestial objects, easy .. and oh yeah say mooonth instead of month a lot

[Harb]

Just be careful if they ask you to show them Uranus........

[programmer]

Originally Posted by Cerberus

if anyone here still thinks a handheld laser can bring down a plane, take a look at DansData and his take on lasers here;
http://www.dansdata.com/nexus.htm

towards the end is this important bit;

So thanks to a little thing called beam divergence even with a monster laser with 300mw output and a super steady hand the damage range is 163metres! if you were to believe the media crap fuelled by the politicians every kid with a laser pointer is a terrorist with a weapon of mass destruction!

This just means it's very hard to cause eye damage from a direct hit with the beam. However temporarily dazzling someone driving, say, (see below) is the real problem.

Originally Posted by Ian Robinson

I've been "flashed" while driving , at speed and at night on the Newcastle to Sydney Expressway ....
...

This was nothing near as trivial as getting highbeams from an approaching vehicle.

I think this is a more real, and immediate danger of lasers than a commercial jet whose pilot is pretty much a caretaker as the plane does all the work. The car driver is pretty much at eye level and at potentially close range, whereas it would be hard for the laser to be at eye level with a pilot. (I'm definitely not discounting danger to pilots from lasers so please don't misconstrue me).

[robgreaves]

Originally Posted by Glenhuon

Guys, get a grip of reality. How many of you actually NEED one of these gadgets. You have IMHO all fallen for the media hype that caused this legislative nonsense in the first place. I don't think we are going to see brownshirts marching down the street anytime soon because of a kneejerk reaction by politicians, the police (who you would be in Deep S**t without) are not going to raid your star party, and no doubt the "journalists" (I use the term in its loosest sense) will find another teacup to make a storm in next week. I thought this was a forum for sensible people

Bill

I definitely need my laser collimator. I would struggle, at dusk, to collimate my reflector telescopes to such a fine degree any other way.

Regards,
Rob.

[tornado33]

Well, honestly Im so angry at what the government is doing, if given a choice of 20 years jail or never owning a laser collimator or pointer Id take the jail. I can be incredibly stubborn at time, it may get me into serious trouble one day but so be it. If I decide Im not going to do something, then thats it Im not doing it for anyone, from the prime minister down.

If ever Im a victim of an armed robbery Id be dead as id say, "you will only take my money from my cold lifeless hands" and dare them to shoot. Thats how incredibly stubborn I am.

A while ago there was talk of banning cameras on beaches due to a few perverts taking explicit images of people sunbaking , and of children. Ever stubborn that weekend I took my 300D and long lens into the beaches in full view, almost daring anyone to say anything. No one did. I just took pics of Nobbys, ships at sea and so on, as is my legal right.

[Harb]

If you go to jail, I will be the big fat b out the front screaming for your release......and I mean that !!

[edwardsdj (Doug)]

My daughter (who lives in NSW) awoke in her bed about three weeks ago with a big hairy man trying to kiss her.

NSW police aren't doing much about it at all.

If they're too lazy to take issues like this seriously, I doubt they'll suddenly find the motivation to start enforcing laser pointer laws.